


Child of the Stars

by Kattekerma



Series: Child of the Stars [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Slight Canon Divergence, Gen, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, There's gonna be a lot more CD later on, Y'all should love Hoshiko she tries her best, addition to canon, cause idk if i am, follows anime until we can't no more, i hope y'all are ready for this mess, other times she's just an asshole, she doesn't deserve this, sometimes, this gonna be a hot ass damn mess, this story is probably gonna be a hot ass mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2018-11-18 15:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 45
Words: 237,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11293338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kattekerma/pseuds/Kattekerma
Summary: Being involved with spiritual beings like Hollow and Shinigami isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when you're a human thrust into it without much to keep you afloat. Luckily I have wits, right? Right? Can someone answer me?((Or: SI replaces Orihime and proceeds to try and be the best Inoue she can be, with unintended side-effects.))





	1. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Prologue

**Prologue: Enter Inoue Hoshiko (OR: In Which I Become a part of a Popular Manga Series)**

* * *

 

Things don’t always go as planned. I’m one who can tell you that this statement is completely true. Entirely too true. I hate how true this statement is. Things just… don’t go as planned. Especially when you think they are.

When you’re lulled into that false sense of security, it’s easy to become complacent with what you have. And when you become too complacent, that’s when you start to get on your guard. Because you might get hit by a truck.

Or more specifically, run into a teenaged boy much, much taller than you. “Oh, shi—Inoue!” The name sounds familiar in a way that I don’t exactly recall. I stare up at the boy who has stopped me from falling. My gaze, I’m sure, is blank and the boy in front of me, I notice, has bright orange hair. “Inoue! Are you okay?”

“Uh… what?” My intelligent response knows no bounds. The boy, who is vaguely familiar to me in a way that I don’t know, is staring at me with concern clearly written across his face. He stares. I stare back. And it goes on for about a minute.

It’s obvious he’s waiting for me to say something, but I don’t know exactly what it is he wants from me. “Okay, thanks, Kurosaki-kun. I’ll see you.” The words fly from my mouth before I have time to process them anymore than that and I’m on my way, leaving the confused boy behind. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but somehow my body knows how to get to what I assume is my home.

The house is dark and empty when I return and I vaguely recall that I had a dog as a companion. Or was it a cat? I’m not sure, but I know I had some kind of… animal. I head towards the bathroom and turn on the lights, staring at myself. “Woah, that’s new.”I run a hand through red hair, noting that it’s about mid-back in length and pulled into two childish looking ponytails with flower-shaped hair pins acting somewhat like hair ties. “I could’ve sworn my hair was… brown. And these eyes…” I press my hand against my face, pulling my eyelids apart further to stare at the striking silver-ish eye color that I now have.

Something’s wrong. This isn’t me. What’s my name? “Inoue… _Hoshiko_.” This doesn’t sound right at all. I leave the bathroom, scouring the apartment for anything with my name on it and it all comes up the same. School ID’s have _‘Inoue Hoshiko’_ written on them and the picture of a red-haired girl with tanned skin is next to them. “What the fuck.”

This isn’t right. There’s no way. Wait. The boy. I sit down on the floor of my bedroom, looking at all the scoured documents and papers, trying to place a name to a face. “Ichigo… _Kurosaki_.” The name… _the name_. “Bleach!”

But no. Hell no. That can’t be right. I can feel the panic rising. I breathe out, trying to keep myself calm as I look down at the documents once more. Okay, just… recall what you’d done today and figure out what the fuck was going on.

Normal day, I… I woke up and I had classes and… wow. This is much harder than I thought. I… I could barely remember what I’d done today—here or before here. “Hoshiko…” I repeated the name. It didn’t _sound_ like my name, but then again, it _did_. Since I didn’t know what my actual name was. Who was I? I moved towards the table, grabbing a notebook and picking up a pencil, writing down things in a language I could barely remember learning.

My name (apparently) was Inoue Hoshiko and I could recall nothing else. Except, I _knew_. Somehow I knew I didn’t belong here. This wasn’t my body… but it was. The tanned skin, I knew it belonged to me—I’d received it from my father. The red hair belonged to my mother. But that’s where I drew a blank. Nothing else came to me. Not even the name that probably fit more than Hoshiko.

I thought back to the boy and the thoughts that I had dreaded thinking about were the only ones that I had left to think about.

This was the Bleach Universe and I was here in it.

Believe me, this entire time, I sat here—about an hour when I glanced at the clock—I’d been hoping that this wasn’t true. But the last name still struck true. My last name—it was Inoue and I’m only making an assumption here but, I think that was the last name of… well, I can’t remember her first name, but it was the last name of the girl who had the world’s biggest crush on our protagonist. “What the fuck?” I cursed lowly.

This didn’t make any sense. I tried to think back to my encounter with Ichigo earlier, noting that he’d nearly knocked me down and that was the moment I felt out of place and odd.

This wasn’t reincarnation. This was more like… waking up after a drunken night in Vegas married to a chimp or something. “What the fuck?” I repeated.

Working out this revelation brought up more questions than it did answers. How did I, some nobody (I’m making assumptions) from the Real World (I’ll just call it that to differentiate) end up here? And as the _Potential Love Interest?_

I used the same sheet of paper to write down these questions, working on it late into the night until I was finally satisfied. I needed answers and fast. The question at the top of the list was ‘What arc was I in?’ The question could be answered somewhat, considering I was still in my first year of high school, so it had to be some time before Aizen’s defeat. And the fact that I couldn’t sense anything extra or call out the power of the hair pins, it was probably somewhere near the beginning.

Shit, there was so much to do. But then again, was there? I could most easily back out of everything and lead a quiet life. I didn’t need to get involved, but then again… Inoue (that’s what I’m going to call her since I don’t remember her name) was in a good portion of everything. It’d have been much better to be brought into this world as one of Ichigo’s sisters, since they weren’t involved too heavily in the plot.

Which begs the question: why me? In my opinion, Inoue was a perfectly fine character. She could handle herself, so what’s the deal with me just… taking her place? And so suddenly? Because, let’s be honest, a knock like what Ichigo did shouldn’t be enough to uproot someone’s entire soul and existence out of their body and replace it with a different one in about 2.5. Didn’t things like this happen from birth? And usually to Naruto fans?

I shook my head. I had to be calm about this. I had to be smart. Once I worked out where I was in the canon, I’d be able to tell whether I could back out now or continue to play the part of Inoue. Glancing at the clock, I finally saw how late it was and decided to just go to bed. This was a lot to process and I needed sleep before I burnt out.

* * *

The next day didn’t bring me many answers, but as I puttered around the kitchen trying to find something to eat, I decided on cereal, as it had little effort to prepare and eat. I could think a little more with food in my system, I’m sure.

I decided to go over the basics.

Inoue is a protagonist. One of the few main-main characters within the series. And she had a big role as supporter. That had to go. If I was going to be Inoue, I was going to fight someone… Did I even want to fight someone, actually? I wasn’t sure. Everything they went through… experiencing it first hand was going to be… scary to say the least.

There were all these big bads and I was some small, meek girl. I shook my head.

I could think about the specifics once I figured out what time period I was in. I turned my thoughts towards Inoue. I could remember a lot of her. Her backstory, her role, the personality… the end game… Everything but her name, which doesn’t make sense. I decided not to think about it too much, since remembering her name was the least of my problems.

Next came my options. If I was to stay here, whether involved with the Canon or not, I was going to have to make changes. First of all, this Inoue wasn’t at all like me. She was soft-spoken and nice where I was rather sarcastic and kind of loud. If I was supposed to play her part, I needed to swap out her personality with my own and make my role more active than the passivity I remembered her to have.

That meant I couldn’t sit around and wait for things to happen. I had to actively search them out myself. “Urahara…” If I could find Urahara, maybe he could help me. He knew a lot, almost too much. Everything happening in the canon, Urahara had some knowledge about and if I could get in with him… well, maybe he could help me out a little bit.

But for now, I had to figure out where I was.

* * *

I let my body take me towards the school, blending in with the crowds as I do so. At this point, there wasn’t much that I could do except wait and see what happens when I get to school. “Hey! Hoshiko!” I turn, noting the appearance of Tatsuki Arisawa. Memories of both myself and Inoue tell me she’s my best friend, but I feel awkward, because she’s not my best friend. I don’t know her despite all the memories resurfacing, telling me that I do know her.

“You left early yesterday…” She comments with a frown. She looks concerned and I think back to yesterday. I can barely remember it. “Did you get home okay?”

“I… yeah.” I respond, looking her over. She’s actually much shorter than I thought, standing just slightly under my height. “I dunno what happened to me, hahah… I just was maybe feeling sick or something?”

Tatsuki looks me over, as if she doesn’t believe me before she sighs, shaking her head, “That’s just like you.” She says and I can feel relief flooding my body. It looks like I’m good at keeping up the charade for now. “You need to take better care of yourself. You live alone now, you know?” I laugh lightly and she lets the topic drop, moving on to something else as we enter the school building.

The day is easily passed with me doodling and not readily paying attention to the sensei because I’ve got better things to worry about. At lunch, I’d noted the appearance of Rukia and Ichigo, meaning that this is still close to the beginning, considering the way she’s acting. “O-Ow!” I yelp, looking around for the source of my pain.

Tatsuki grins from beside me, “Ready to go home, Hoshiko?” I nod slowly and she looks over at me, frowning, “That seemed to hurt you a lot, though I only poked you. Are you alright?”

“Ah… I must’ve bruised my arm or something and didn’t realize until now.” I grip the appendage, trying to rack my brain for answers. Then it hits me.

Sora, my brother.

Tatsuki only shakes her head at me, obviously more used to dealing with Inoue than she’d like to admit. “Put some ice on that when you get home, okay? And we’re still on for dinner tonight, right?”

Jeez, this confrontation with my ‘brother’ was happening a lot quicker than I had anticipated. I wasn’t prepared for such an early confrontation. Why was it that I was suddenly being thrust into the plot? I thought I had more time than this! Just a day to prepare? Not even a day! I turn back to Tatsuki who seems to be waiting for my answer and despite myself, I agree. “

Y-Yeah!” I manage to sound convincing. “Totally! I’mma just go an’ get the groceries. Let’s have ramen tonight!”

“…You know how to make ramen?” Tatsuki raises an eyebrow and I freeze. Just great, I’ve been here less than a day and I’m already fucking things up. It only hits me now that Inoue has a weird taste for food and her cooking skills aren’t what mine are. 

I nervously laugh, “N-No, but I bought a cookbook! An’ you’ll be the first to try!” She doesn’t look too happy about that but nonetheless agrees to it. With a few more words, the two of us part ways. Don’t worry, Tatsuki, you won’t die. I’m a better cook than Inoue.

* * *

 

If things are the way they are in the manga, then Inoue—well, _I_ (it’s hard to remember that I’m her now) should be getting hit by a—“Woah!” I dodge out of the way as a car swerves to avoid me. Something grips my leg but I manage to kick it away, falling down onto the crosswalk. “Asshole!”

“Inoue!” I hear someone call. I grab the bag of groceries I’d been carrying and quickly cross the street.

“Wow! Exciting day, huh?” The sarcasm I have doesn’t seem to know when to stop. My leg throbs but I keep smiling anyway. If I’m to act as Inoue, I need to play up the part just like she would. “Hello, Kuchiki-san! Kurosaki-kun!”

“Inoue, are you okay?” Ichigo asks me, “That car almost hit you and you’re acting like you’re walking through a field of roses.”

I laugh fakely at his comparison. It’s tight and short and I’m sure they can tell something’s wrong, but I continue to act as if this mark on my leg doesn’t hurt me. “Yeah, I’m totally fine! It was just a scrape.”

“That bruise looks rather painful.” Rukia comments. I stick my leg out, noting the bruise on my leg. It looks so much more real than it did in the anime and manga. It’s much darker, almost like it’s crushing my leg and blossoming purple and black. I frown down at it before looking up at the two. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I can still walk on it.” I test it out, barely being able to hide the wince that accompanies me putting pressure onto it. God, just let this mini-arc be over already. I don’t want to get hurt when I can’t be healed right away.

“Wait, Inoue.” Ichigo speaks up again, “Do you want us to walk you home?” While the thought was tempting, I really didn’t want that. I didn’t want any of that. Ichigo wasn’t my love interest, he was Inoue’s. I didn’t love him from the moment I saw him. Sure, he was cute and everything, even more so in person seeing as the early art styles did everyone dirty, but I just wasn’t feeling him right now.

Besides, I needed things to play out like they did in the series and Inoue refuses having him help her anyway. “Thanks, but no thanks, Kurosaki-kun.” I punch him on the arm. “My house isn’t that far, so I’ll be fine walking by myself.” I give the two a bright smile and begin my slow journey home, leaving the two bewildered Shinigami behind.

The walk home, like I’d said, wasn’t all too long and I’d made it home with enough time to spare. Putting the ingredients in the kitchen, I looked them over as I moved around looking for pots and pans and ignoring the dull throb of my leg. It’d get better later on, I’m sure.

I was actually a good cook, that much I knew and I’d suggested ramen because it was an easier dish for me to make. I bet Tatsuki’d feel dumb when she came by and ate my food and found out I was some sort of food goddess.

No sooner had I finished making the food did the doorbell ring and Tatsuki stood there, dressed casually and holding a bag of food. “Did you cook?” She asks without greeting me and entering the home. From Inoue’s memories, I could tell that she came over quite often and was here almost as much as she— _I_ —was.

“I did, actually.” I smiled, “And you’re gonna love it. I made ramen like I said.” She puts her food down onto the table as I bring out two large, steaming bowls of the ramen I’d prepared. Tatsuki looks more shocked than surprised at the two bowls that I set down and I stare at her for a moment. “Hey, stop staring so hard!” I laugh out, sitting down across from Tatsuki.

“S-Sorry…” Tatsuki apologizes, wiping her mouth, “It’s just that… it actually looks… really good. You-You said you cooked this?” She asks, grabbing a pair of chopsticks, though I can see the hesitation in her grip on them.

“Yeah! I did! It’s good, I promise! I, uh, I been practicing! Since you said my food is weird… I thought I’d try making more normal things…” I quickly say, the excuse coming to me readily. I pick up my own chopsticks, “C’mon, Tatsuki! Dig in!” I don’t wait for her, instead saying the small prayer and slurping up a couple of noodles.

Tatsuki watches me for a moment before she too picks up a couple of noodles, tentatively slurping them. “Oh… _wow_!” She sounds impressed and I can’t help but feel my chest swell with pride. I smile widely as she compliments the food. Before long, she’s done and asking for seconds.

“See! What did I tell you?!” I nudge her after dinner while we sit and watch TV.

“Alright, you got me.” She raises her hands in mock defeat, “You can cook. I’m sorry I doubted you.” I smile at her. It’s always good to prove someone wrong, but I can’t like this easiness. Something’s going to happen soon and I have to be prepared for it. I may not know Tatsuki as well as Inoue did, but I still didn’t want her to get caught up in the two events she was going to get caught up in.

She was a good character, I liked her, I did. And her being a character was what would more than likely keep me detached from her. Even if I had only known her for a day, I doubt that I would have the same friendship with her as Inoue did, considering she was just a character to me. But that didn’t mean I wanted her to get hurt. Maybe I could somehow kick her out early and be the only one to deal with Sora’s return. That way she wouldn’t get hurt.

“So, what’s this bruise on your leg?” Tatsuki breaks through my thoughts. I look up at her, confused before she gestures towards my leg. “What happened?”

“Oh, that.” I glanced at it. I should’ve covered it up or worn pants, but I couldn’t find any in Inoue’s—well, now my—wardrobe. She had more skirts than anything and those were going to be going once my aunt sent the stipend. “I, um, I got hit by a car earlier today. Then I ran into Kurosaki-kun.” I mentioned him offhandedly.

Tatsuki seems to quirk an eyebrow at what I’d said and looks down at my leg. “I’m gonna go get the first aid kit. You should’ve bandaged that by now, idiot.” She knocks me on the head as she passes and I use this opportunity to think.

If I were to be different from Canon Inoue, I needed more skills early on. Something like an attack. But what? I didn’t have much access to my spiritual powers yet, I couldn’t even see or sense ghosts and hollows yet, so what could I do? I thought of Tatsuki and of Ichigo and came to the realization of what the two had in common.

They both knew karate. And Karate would help me. Sure, only for a little while and on more human-like opponents, but if I had a basis for it, I could probably incorporate it into something else as time went on. But for now, the basics would do. Tatsuki returns from the bathroom with the first aid kit and begins working on covering up my leg. “So ya ran into Ichigo, huh?” Tatsuki begins.

“Tatsuki!” I blurt out, scaring her. She looks up at me, surprised by it and waits for me to finish, “C-Can you, maybe teach me some karate?”

The question catches her off guard and her gaze hardens. “Is someone bothering you again?” Her voice is just as hard as her gaze, “I swear… if they’re making you cut that gorgeous red hair of yours again, I’m gonna…”

“No! No!” I’m quick to stop Tatsuki. “It’s nothing like that, I promise you! I promise.” My words seem to calm her down a little bit. “So then why do you want to learn karate?” Tatsuki tilts her head, “Trying to impress someone?”

“No, not really.” I respond, trying to figure out the best way to word my desire to learn the fighting style. “I… I just want to try it out! I think it’s really cool—or at least you make it look really cool!” Tatsuki blushes at my words. “Please, please! Tatsuki! I’ll be the best student ever!”

Tatsuki sighs, finishing up the bandaging and nods her head. “Fine, but I’m only teaching you a couple of moves and that’s it! You’re too delicate for the heavy stuff.” Inwardly I scoffed, I wasn’t too delicate. At least she agreed, but it seemed more temporary. I needed to find a more permanent solution to my fighting ability predicament.

“It almost seems like you’re a different person, but still the same.” Tatsuki comments, “Wanting to learn fighting… cooking… but you’re still the same airheaded Hoshiko I know.” She glances around my room, her gaze steadying on something. “Was that always like that?”

I turn, following her gaze. “Enraku!” I yelp out, moving towards the bear. There’s a large rip across his face and memories start to resurface. Enraku was given to me by Sora. A loud roar cuts off my train of thought and before I know it, Sora’s upon us. Shit.

* * *

There’s a gap in my memory. When I wake up, I note that I’m further away from Tatsuki than I was before, but that’s not all I notice. There’s a distinct… Killing Intent in the air that’s making me panic. It makes me feel small and vulnerable as if anything I do wouldn’t matter at all. It’s suffocating, like I’m in a dark, closed space with no way out. There, above Tatsuki, looms Sora in his hollow form. She’s scared, I can tell, since she doesn’t know what’s going on and I don’t know how I can see him. It’s much too early for this.

I look down, noting the Chain of Fate attached to my chest and have to remind myself that I’m not dead like Sora is going to try to tell me. Tears prick at my eyes nonetheless at the prospect of being dead… and how easily I was knocked from my body. “Hoshiko…” His voice seems to drip malice and venom. I keep my eyes trained on him, trying to think through my panic and figure a way for him to get away from Tatsuki. At this rate, he’s going to kill her.

Despite what I’d said earlier, I could already feel Inoue’s memories assimilating into mine. Tatsuki was my friend, and she was a character, but right now, she was more my friend. And she was getting hurt. So naturally, I had to do something. She’d more than likely die if I didn’t.

But breathing and doing anything in this soul body was so hard… Each labored breath I took felt like my last and I had the worst tunnel vision. Maybe it would’ve been easier being reborn as a Naruto character? I shook it from my thoughts as I saw Sora move in closer to Tatsuki. I had to act, and fast. I couldn’t let her die here just because I was trying to be different from Inoue.

“Get away from her!” I yelled as loud as I could, surprised by the lack of stutter and how strong my voice sounds. This seemed to catch his attention and he charged towards me, only to be stopped by Ichigo. Relief floods through me at his appearance. If anyone can help right now, it’s him. “K-Kurosaki!” I call out, surprising him. Sora has gone back to hiding for the moment when Ichigo turns to me. Thank God he’s arrived, now I could rest kind of easy.

“Inoue? Y-You can see me? How?” He questions and while I want to answer him, I know I can’t. Not because plot reasons, but because Sora is gripping my Chain of Fate and making it hard for me to do anything. Vaguely, I can hear him tell Ichigo that I’m dead as he punts him out the window.

Sora looks at me and I grunt, narrowing my eyes into a glare as best I can. “Th-The S-Sora I know…” I gasp out, staring him straight into the eyes, “The Sora I know… wouldn’t… act like this! He’s kind a-and compassionate! My brother… is _not_ a monster!”

“Ah… but anybody would act like this!” He counters, “Out of loneliness! You left me all alone! Because of that stupid girl over there.” He gestures to Tatuski. I remember that Inoue had started only talking about Tatsuki and Ichigo after a certain point and then stopped praying all together, but only because she wanted him to know that she was doing better and was happy. “It’s your fault, Hoshiko! You made me like this!” He slams me down, knocking my head against the wooden floor, his hand wrapped firmly around my neck.

“Hey!” Ichigo’s voice cuts through my fading consciousness. It’s enough to get Sora to lighten his grip on me. I don’t see it, though I can hear Sora’s scream of anguish as well as feel his arm drop beside me. It takes all I have not to scream at it.

Everything’s so much more _real_ here. Sora’s arm, large and grotesque, spews some sort of dark black-red blood, covering the floor and spreading towards my hair and shirt, as it flails around before ultimately falling limp next to him.

“You know, the reason big brothers are born first… Is to protect their younger siblings!” I can tell Ichigo is upset, just by his tone of voice. “You’re really pissin’ me off with all this talk about killing siblings! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Sora looks down at me, almost ready to attack again, but something stops him. He rears up, a screeching noise pouring from his mouth as he rams his head into the wall of my apartment. I scramble up and away from Sora, falling back near the table and looking towards Tatsuki. She was bleeding, and unconscious, but not enough to actually be anything fatal. This was good. I still had to worry about Sora and Ichigo.

I look around the apartment, noting that they’re not inside, but the grunts of effort pour into the apartment from outside and I know I have to stop them. But how? I can’t remember clearly how she stopped him, so I have to improvise. I grab a knife from the kitchen and run outside just in time to see Sora spit acid at Ichigo. “Stop!” I yell, drawing his attention. “I-I know you’re in there, Sora!" I rush at him, using my adrenaline to push away my fear. He rears up, roaring as he runs at me.

“Inoue, what the hell?!” Ichigo yells. I raise the knife high above my head, dropping it and I grab him, pulling him into a hug. I bite my lip, screaming as his large teeth dig into my shoulder. Fucking hell, Inoue was a bad ass for just taking this and not screaming or even crying. I felt like I was going to pass out. “What’s going on?”

“I… I’m sorry, Sora.” I tell him, tears filling my eyes. These memories were starting to get to me a lot more than I thought. Either that, or this pain was doing much more to me than I thought. My arm, I could feel, was getting mostly numb the longer I held him and I couldn't believe that I was still able to form coherent sentences. “I… I know you probably noticed I’m not the same as before… but I know you’ve always been watching me and… I s-started acting like everything was fine… so that you didn’t have to worry about me... and could move on.”

I don’t know if it’s working, but I hear Sora’s grunts of efforts and he pushes me away, I slam into something softer than a stone fence and slump slightly, watching him. I smile as it seems like he has understood.

“Sora,” Ichigo approaches, his Zanpakuto still drawn, “You know, Inoue told me once that she wears those… hair pins because they were a gift from you. I’ve never seen her not wearing them.” I can feel my eyes getting heavy and the last thing I see is Sora grabbing Ichigo’s Zanpakūto and purifying himself.

“Sora!” I call out, “H-Have a nice day, okay? B-Be safe…” Looks like I _could_ do this protagonist stuff.

* * *

 

When I wake up the next morning, it almost seems like nothing had happened. I sit at the table, looking out the large gaping hole, mentally reminding myself to tell the landlord what happened. Something about a sumo wrestler if I recall correctly. “Spiritual powers are amazing…” I comment with wonder.

It’s odd, to me, how quickly I’m adapting to this world. Sora actually felt like my real older brother and Tatsuki like my friend. Maybe it’s moving a little too fast? I wish I’d had more time to prepare for all this. Maybe they could’ve put me into her place a couple of weeks before this? Allowing me time to get used to my surroundings and such, but I guess this was just the most opportune time to drop me in.

I did feel for Sora, I only had past memories of him to go off of, but from what I’d seen, he was a good big brother. With his final passing, I knew that I was in it for the long run. I couldn’t back out now, especially since things only get more hectic from here.

There’s more questions that I have, like what happened to the original and what’s coming next, but I can save those for later. Right now, I think I was going to focus on something else.

Following canon with Inoue’s memories seemed the best way to not draw attention to myself. And by following those memories, I would probably be able to stay out of canon’s way and they’d find another Inoue to take up the part of the Shun Shun Rikka holder. That way I didn’t have to get involved. Sure, it’d be boring just living on the sidelines, but it was the safest option and there was a big incentive to this called ‘not dying’.

But then again… maybe following canon was the best bet, considering I didn’t know how I was going to get back home at this rate. Ugh, this was a pain in the ass to deal with. Why did it have to happen to me?

Still, if I was going to do anything here, I was going to do it my way.

“Alright, first things first, Hoshiko.” I slap my cheeks. “No more pity talk! No more ‘why me?’ If I’m gonna be here… I need to start being more outgoing! I can’t let things happen to me, I gotta go chase after them!”

I would test out the next few days and see how things were going and if it wasn’t too bad, I’d stay with canon, otherwise, it was still early enough for me to bail out now. It looked like I was here to stay.


	2. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The thing about being a semi-side character is just that—you’re on the side. And being on the side means that you don’t really—at least in my case—know what you should be doing until you’re in the canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bear with me while Hoshiko gets a personality and something to do other than talk to herself tbh

The thing about being a semi-side character is just that—you’re on the side. And being on the side means that you don’t really—at least in my case— _know_ what you should be doing until you’re in the canon. So, for the most part, since _‘Episode of Inoue’_ is over, all I can do is wait until mine and Ichigo’s paths cross again enough for me to become plot relevant. I ponder this as I brush my teeth. Sure, I’m in Ichigo’s class and I see him enough on the daily to know where the plot is headed, but that doesn’t give me personally much to work with. I hate writers sometimes, since they never elaborate on what characters do when they’re not out fighting the latest big baddie.

_Do I have hobbies?_ I know that I, _Hoshiko_ , personally do have hobbies. I like to sing and dance—and I’m good at them from what I can remember—and I can cook, though I prefer baking. I’m also a pretty big couch potato. Now Inoue, on the other hand, I’m not sure what she likes or dislikes or what she’s interested in or if I can even do what she’s good at. Wait, can I even do what _I’m_ good at?

Inoue has a laptop and on this day off, that’s where I find myself, sitting in my newly fixed living room. “Okay, Sora, Enraku.” I say to the picture and the teddy bear. I’ve gotten into the habit of speaking to Sora’s photo, just in case he’s listening. I know I told him a few days after the incident with him that I wasn’t _really_ his little sister, but someone who happened to be taking her place, so at least the air is clear with that. It’s hard to explain… taking someone else’s place, especially when they have no memory of that person ever existing. As far back as I traced, I couldn’t find anybody who had that striking hair color that she had—even now my memory of her is fading.

“Let’s see if I still have my talents.” Whitney Houston is a _God_. Her high notes bring both pleasure and pain to me. Pleasure when I hear her sing them and pain when I have to do it myself. But holding the notes in ‘ _I wanna dance with somebody_ ’ brings me comfort. At least I know that the music hasn’t changed despite me entering a different world.

I playback the recording, noting that I do sound similar to what I could vaguely remember sounding like. The next test was whether I could throw down the moves like I used to. There are few dances that I know in full, so completing the vaguely recalled routine to ‘ _Womanizer’_ has me giddy. So, it seemed like the few talents I did have before I became Inoue, I still retained. Good.

Who knew, maybe I could charm Aizen into letting me go with a slow lap dance to Beyonce’s _‘Dance For You’_. I doubt it’d work, but it’d be worth a try, honestly. Just to see their faces.

I tried to think of Inoue’s talents, only coming up with her being exceedingly smart, which was good and hopefully it’d rub off on me and her being a part of the… Handicraft Club. “Oh, shit, I should probably go to that.” I didn’t want anybody thinking I’m suddenly a different person, so I had to start going to that.

I also had to start getting on Tatsuki about teaching me some karate moves. She wasn’t going to weasel out of this one.

* * *

“Look who it is!” Michiru pouts when I enter the clubroom after school the next day. I laughed nervously, offering her a small hello. “Seriously, Hoshiko-chan!” Michiru whines, “You’ve been gone for, like, ever!”

“Yeah, I know.” It had only been a couple of days. Well… more like a week and a half or something, considering when I first arrived here, I did nothing but go to school and come home. Then after the Sora incident, I had to be home to allow the workers in to fix the hole in the wall and that whole ordeal took a couple days. Needless to say, my aunt was upset that we’d never get the security deposit back. And that meant for the next while I’d be wearing tasteless skirts and tacky shirts. Just great.

“I mean, after that, uh, wrestler blew a hole in my wall…” I trailed, allowing Michiru to pick up the meaning. She gasped, nodding very quickly, almost apologetically. I didn’t blame her, nor did I really care one way or the other. It was just a house repair. Luckily it wasn’t much more than that. “So! Uh, what’re you working on?”

“Me? Oh, I’m trying to get this cross-stitch down.” Michiru shows me what she’s making and I’m not prepared for what I see. Let it be known that not everyone in Japanese Anime is good at everything they set their mind to.

What stares me back in the face is… well, in the plainest terms I can say: it’s _really bad_. I can’t even tell what it’s supposed to be. She catches my eye, probably seeing the confusion and obvious distaste for it as she’s quick to tell me what it is. “E-Er it’s supposed to be my name embroidered on this so I can hang it on my door.”

“Oh…” I say with fake enthusiasm, though it doesn’t help me figure out what characters she’s trying to use. Everything looks really bad, and she knows that I’m struggling not to say it. “Um… burnt orange and… light green are… _interesting…_ color choices.” I smile at her. She returns my smile weakly.

It’s high time I get out of here before I say something I’m not supposed to. “ _Well_ , I guess I’ll, uh... go embroid my own thing now. I’ll just, uh, be over there. If you need me, I’m there.” I quickly make my escape, sitting down at the open station while Michiru fights with her embroidery.

It’s safe to say I have no idea what I’m doing.

Everyone around me seems to know somewhat of what they’re doing—even Michiru who has scrapped her former work and is starting a new one more than likely because of my reaction (I feel bad, but I’m kind of an honest person when it comes to my initial reactions). I glance around the classroom, noting that Uryu is in here as well. He seems hard at work at something and is no doubt designing another cape with a fever that I have never ever had nor have seen in my entire life. I roll my eyes. That boy was going to have a stress-induced heart attack unless he took a chill pill.

God, it seemed like everyone here needed my help. Did I really want to give it to them, though?  Anyhow, it didn’t really matter. Canon would force us to have relationships with each other born from hardship, I’m sure.

For now, Uryu could wait. I’d worry about him later on when we actually crossed paths outside of the club. There was no need to go up to him now and try to start a conversation and make a smart remark and have him hate me or something. So waiting was my best option. I had Tatsuki to focus on right now anyway.

It turns out that embroiding or doing any type of sewing is actually really hard. Now that I’m doing it, some of Inoue’s memories of doing it are coming back to me and she was pretty good at sewing, whereas, I’m guessing her abilities don’t transfer over. My fingers are bleeding. At least the yarn I picked was red. “Uh, first aid kit?” I call out. There’s hardly a person left in the room. I know that Michiru had already left, saying she had to prepare dinner for her siblings, but I was so busy mumbling and cursing about the pain these fuckin’ needles caused that I didn’t notice everyone else leaving.

The only person left was… _Uryu_. Fucking dammit.

“Hey, U—er, Ishida-san!” I called out, standing. He turned back to look at me sharply. “Where’s the first aid kit? There’s so much blood on my hands, it’s like my time of the month, haha…” He didn’t seem to think the joke was funny, instead he stood, moving towards the cabinets and pulled out the large first aid kit and set it down on my work desk. “Thanks, buddy, I can handle it from—!”

“Don’t be stupid. Hold your hands out.” Uryu is quick to cut me off. He looks sick, as if he hates the sight of blood and it comes back to me—his father’s pretty much an asshole. I hold my hands out despite my better judgement and Uryu gets to work, cleaning my fingers and bandaging them.

“So, uh,” I speak up, only because I can’t stand the quiet now that it’s been made apparent to me. “What’re you making?” He looks almost conflicted to speak about his work, but I’m genuinely curious now that I can see some of it from where I sit. He looks at me for a moment before looking down at my fingers again.

“…a cape.” I knew he was making a fucking cape. I knew it. This little pretentious…

“Oh, fancy.” I nod along with his words, “…You a _LARPer_ or somethin’? They’re the only people I know who wear capes in this day and age.” Uryu pauses for a moment before he continues. "Or, like, Kanye or something like that."

“…something like that.” He finally answers. I can’t believe he’s actually answering my questions! This is an awkward conversation, but it’s fine nonetheless! He’s talking to me and I’m making progress! “What are you trying your hand at?”

He’s so proper it kills me. I'm literally gagging.  _‘Trying your hand at’_? Who _says_ shit like that? I swear to God, I’m going to get this boy to start using slang before I’m through with this show. “I actually don’t know. I’m just trying to figure out how to sew in a straight line so I can fix my stuffed bear.”

Uryu hums as he finishes bandaging my hands. “Wow, thanks.” I flex my fingers, “This is a way better job than I would’ve done, honestly.” Uryu stands, moving to return the first aid kit. Stretching, I decide that I’m done pretending to know how to sew and pack up my bag, heading towards the door. “Don’t stay too late, Ishida-san. They say ghosts roam these halls.”

“I hardly believe it, but thank you.” Uryu responds, “Take care.”

“Same to you.” I leave the classroom, filing away this interaction for later. At least I was off to an okay start with him.

* * *

Like I’d said before, finding things that interested me in this daily life before I was relevant was hard. One could only take so much monotony of school, club, home before they wanted to punch a wall (and I'd already tried that. Not the best to be doing when your fingers were still recovering from being cut up so much). “Tatsuki! _Come on!_ ” I whined. She looked unconvinced by my whining. “Please! Just a punch-kick combo!”

I’d been hounding her on teaching me karate for a long while. But she assumed I was too delicate and every time I brought it up, she suddenly had something to do. But I wasn’t going to take no for an answer this time. “Ugh, fine!” She finally gives in, obviously tired of my constant whining. “I’ll teach you!”

“Yes!” I cheered, following the girl towards the school’s dojo. Because Tatsuki was so high ranked within the dojo, she had access to her own copy of the keys and was allowed in whenever. The dojo was big and spacious. Considering Inoue had only been here once, I could tell not much had changed. I took my shoes off at the door, following Tatsuki in. She veered off, leaving me to pad across the tatami mats while she went to get a training dummy.

“Okay, so I’m going to teach you a basic punch, okay?” Tatsuki informed me as she set up the training dummy in front of me. “I don’t expect you to get it right away, so don’t get frustrated if you don’t. Half of karate is about patience. It won’t come to you in a day.”

“Okay, _thanks_ Mr. Miyagi.” I roll my eyes at her, “Should I wax on, wax off first? Maybe sweep the floor one thousand times. Wipe the windows?” She seems almost stunned at my joke, but takes it in stride, adopting a rather firm looking stance. I’ve got to remember that Inoue isn’t me yet and these jokes are only going to throw Tatsuki off.

“Shut up and copy my stance, brat.” She breaks her stance as soon as I copy it and walks around me, “So this stance is called the ‘front stance’ and it’s one of the four basic stances. Mainly used for punching and that’s what we’re doing today like I said.”

“Can we get to the punching, please?” I urge her. Tatsuki sighs, shaking her head as she tries to push me over. I hold my ground and she seems impressed.

“Okay, you’re got the stance down surprisingly, so I guess we can kind of move ahead…” She clicks her tongue, probably thinking about what she could do next. “Okay, face the training dummy.” I do so and she adopts the stance, thrusting her fist out. “I want you to do this punch fifty times.”

I groaned but nonetheless started the punching. If I wanted Tatsuki to take me seriously, I needed to do what she said. Because right now, it’s obvious to anyone that she’s just humoring me on a whim. She doesn’t really believe that I can fight or have the dedication to do this. It sucks to think of, but it’s true. It only made sense, since Inoue wasn’t the fighting type.

She was the passive role of the healer and only later on became more aggressive. But I wasn’t like that. I wanted to be aggressive from the get-go. I wanted to punch someone in the face from the door! I wanted to be someone to contend with and someone who didn’t need to be protected all the time. I had to make my mark now so that later one, when we were fighting the bad guys, I wasn’t left behind and only asked to do some healing.

I finished the punches and just as I moved to try and leave the stance, Tatsuki did the same one opposite how I did it and punched with her other arm. “Again, with that arm.”

As much as I talked, maybe karate wasn’t right for me. I had only chosen it because Tatsuki did it. I knew that I wouldn’t be some kind of Jackie Chan overnight, of course I knew, but it still all went back to Tatsuki not taking it as serious as I was. She watched me critically, correcting me and while that was fine, I knew this wasn’t at all how she taught the others who joined the club.

“Okay, I’m done.” I give up halfway through my left arm’s set. Tatsuki seems surprised. “I know you don’t really want to teach me karate.”

“Hoshiko…” Tatsuki moved towards me, patting my arm. “Why do you want to learn to fight?”

“I… think it’s a useful skill.” I tell her, trying to think of more reasons that I could use. I couldn’t outright tell her why I really wanted to learn karate. She wouldn’t believe me—no, she’d laugh right at me.

“Yeah, okay,” She scoffs, “This isn’t about Ichigo, is it?”

I scoffed at her words, blowing air out of my mouth a couple of times as I act flabbergasted at the idea. Why did _everything_ always relate back to him? Sure, in a sense, I was _kind of_ doing this for him if one thought about it, but I still had my own personal reasons for doing it, “For Kurosaki-kun? He already knows how to fight, so why would I learn it for him? Like I said… I’m learning for me.”

“You’re not the type to fight, though.” Tatsuki replies, “That’s why I’m trying to figure out what this is really about. Look, Hoshiko.” She puts her arms on my shoulders, “You don’t need to learn to fight. I’m here and I’ll always protect you.”

“Thanks, Tatsuki, I can always count on you.” I decide to say instead of continuing this conversation.

It looks like this turned out to be a bust. Oh, Tatsuki, if you only knew what was coming. “C”mon, cheer up. Let’s get some ice cream.” Tatsuki drags the training dummy away and I’m left by myself. I had to find another way of trying to get a fighting style before the real events of the canon started happening because once they did, I knew I wouldn’t have time to do whatever I wanted, as I’d be in heavy demand of Canon Needs.

This sucked. I really hoped that Tatsuki would help. I wasn’t sure if Inoue knew any type of fighting, but it seemed as if she didn’t after racking my brain. Even through getting ice cream and the walk home, nothing came up. I’d have to actually learn something by myself.

That was fine, at least whoever taught me next wouldn’t have a biased opinion because I’m their best friend and they wanted to protect me all the time. “Oh, Hoshiko, Hoshiko…” I sighed out, looking at Sora’s photo. “You wouldn’t happen to know some kind of fighting style I could pick up, would you?” The picture didn’t respond. “I thought as much.”

It looked like I was on my own. Just. Great.

* * *

Even though I wasn’t learning karate from Tatsuki (which ended much sooner than I’d anticipated it to), I still knew I had things I needed to accomplish. With the days rushing by so quickly, it was only a matter of time before Rukia was taken back to the soul society and I still hadn’t made a solid connection with her. And did I want to? Sure, I’d be thankful for the powers I received as a result of her indirect influence on me, but aside from that, really, what did I owe her? At this point, if I went to the soul society with them tomorrow, it’d look like I was going for Ichigo.

But then again, did I even _want_ to go to the soul society? Sure, I felt for Rukia—needlessly caught up in some noise that she didn’t even need to be all because of Aizen’s bitch ass, but did I feel enough for her to try and risk my life to save her like Ichigo wanted to? I don’t know at this point. There was still so much to think about. The question I kept going back to was _‘did I want to be a part of canon?’_ If I had arrived a little earlier—and given who I was replacing, that question would’ve been easier to say no to, considering if I hadn’t many ties to the main cast, I could have easily, easily said no. But I’d already had my episode with Sora and I was already on my way to developing spiritual sight and powers.

As the days passed, I could begin to vaguely see things and hear voices. It was coming a lot more quickly than I wanted it to and my options of avoiding canon were less and less with each day that passed. My run-ins with Uryu kind of cemented that and even being around Ichigo and Rukia in class also cemented that fact in too. Ugh, well, there went my chance at a normal life. I guess I was just going to follow the canon and try not to switch things up too, too bad.

“They’re dating.” Mahana spits out, pointing her juice box at Rukia and Ichigo bickering. “They have to be.”

“Don’t you think the supposed ‘honeymoon phase’ would’ve warn off by now?” I chime in after everyone’s made their agreements with Mahana. “I mean… one can only be so ‘in love’ with their partner like that for so long. It’s gotta be something else.”

“Oh, poor poor Hoshiko-chan. So naïve!” Chizuru pressed my head into her chest, only for Tatsuki to swat her away, rolling her eyes. “You’re so… full of hope! An admirable quality!”

“Chizuru’s right.” Mahana continues, “You’re being naïve, Hoshiko-chan. It’s probably because of your crush.”

“I don’t have a crush.” I roll my eyes, “I barely say two words to the guy. I want to like someone for their personality, not because of how cute they are.” The group goes quiet for a minute and I realize how much I hate girl talk. I could only vaguely remember my group of friends, but I knew that statement still stood. Girl talk was the worst. "And I'm not saying I think he's cute, so don't go there." I stare pointedly at Michiru and Mahana.

“Well, still.” Mahana continues as if I hadn't said anything, “They have to be dating. It’s clear as day!” I decide to let the topic go as they move on to something else, knowing that it’s futile to argue the point further, considering I just said I didn’t have a crush on him and this would make it seem like I do.

I needed to figure out a way to talk to Rukia more, considering my encounters with Uryu were getting slightly better. He would actually greet me during club, much to Michiru’s horror and my surprise. He seemed fine in my presence when we were alone and that was good. Uryu wasn’t an unlikeable guy, he was just… _really_ high maintenance. He even fixed Enraku for me, which in itself put someone in my good books.

From the bird Sado carried in the cage, I could see we were in his character episode, but I couldn’t place where in the episode we were. I, personally, had no involvement in this episode and even if I had wanted to be, I didn’t know where to go to get involved, besides, I had to play the part of the ignorant school girl for just a little while longer so that I wasn’t put on anybody’s radar.

* * *

With more time on my hands than I thought, even though I’ve been going to the Handicrafts Club and staying late, I’ve concocted a timeline of sorts to try and figure out where I am in the canon and what was coming next so I could be prepared. Since it was obvious I was going to be in the canon and taking Inoue’s place, I had to start getting ready for what was to come. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. Even after I’d decided to be a part of canon, I kept thinking on that I didn’t just want to be a part of the canon. I didn’t just want to _play_ Inoue’s part. I… kind of wanted to make it my _own_.

I mean, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was no actor. Why would I play it as if I was her instead of as if I were, well, me? So, I decided that I was going to make this my own canon in a sense and I was going to do things my way.

Going back to the timeline, it’s pretty ugly to look at. But that’s okay, cause I’ll be the only one reading and looking at it. It’s written in English, since I know that’s a language not many here know. It’s early June still, just about a week before June 17th. The date is important, but I can’t place my finger on why. When I think about events that are coming up soon, my mind blanks, but I can remember the details of Aizen’s betrayal and the subsequent arcs that follow it.

I’m a little spotty on the anime-only arcs, however, so I just mark down the titles and see if I can remember anything. This begs the question, however, whether or not these ‘filler arcs’ are actually a part of this world’s canon. If so, then that means there’s a lot more time between certain things than I thought. Of course, from this first arc to the soul society arc, nothing is filler. This is all set-up canon and after wards, the soul society arc is divided up into two mini arcs.

To figure out whether this will follow canon to a T or diverge with fillers, I’d have to wait until soul society. And also, there was my appearance here as well. Did my being here instead of the original Inoue change things? I hadn’t thought much of the future, considering I was still, in a sense, treating myself as an outsider and trying to just stay away from canon as much as I could and wait for my own cameos.

...Would I even receive the same powers as Inoue?

I shook my head, I couldn’t think about that. I’d have plenty of time to think about that later. Right now, I had other things to worry about. Like what was coming directly next.

Kon. During his little two-episode arc, I knew I didn’t have much of a part, so I still had time, but not that much, to figure something out. I was going to be a part of the canon, so I had time to think of some kickass one-liners that I could use. And then soon enough, I’d be receiving my powers.

“Kuchiki-san!” I’d waved the black-haired girl down one day before lunch. She turned, curtsying to me as she did so. I smiled, remembering how funny I thought her attitude was when I watched the show.

“Hello, Inoue-san! How are you doing today?” She asked, just as pleasant as ever.

“Aw, you don’t have to be so formal with me!” I told her, slapping her on the back. “Come eat lunch with us! I’m sure it must get tiring eating with the same couple o’ faces.” She seemed conflicted at my prospect but nonetheless nodded, following me up onto the roof where the other girls sat, chatting amicably with each other. “Hey, I brought someone to eat with us!” I gesture towards Rukia who bows to them, introducing herself.

“She’s so formal!” Chizuru seems surprised as she circles Rukia a couple of times. “So proper… so… _cute_!” Tatsuki pushes the girl out of the way before she can leap towards Rukia and she grunts, frowning as she nearly topples to the floor. “Tatsuki! That’s not very ladylike.”

“Neither is acting like a lecher and I never see you stop to think about it.” Tatsuki is quick to comeback with. This is why we got along so well. “Welcome, Kuchiki.” She says, moving back to sit down. "It's nice to finally be able to talk to you without Kurosaki hangin' around."

“Y-Yeah... Y-You’re always with Kurosaki, we d-didn’t think you’d e-ever want to hang out with u-us.” Michiru speaks up, hiding slightly behind Ryo.

Rukia laughs in what I can only describe as a ‘posh’ manner. A hand placed against her mouth to cover it. “Don’t be silly!” Rukia shakes her head, “I was just a little… shy about it. Ic—er, Kurosaki-kun is simply my guide. You see… I’m not from around here.”

“Where y’from?” Mahana says through a mouthful of banana. Ryo sighs, shaking her head at Mahana's behavior. “I mean, it makes sense, since you talkin’ so proper compared to the rest of us. I feel like a slob, haha!”

“Oh no,” Rukia waves a hand, “I think all of your manners of speaking are quite fine. Mine is the more out of place one… I’m learning to use more common words… But, um, I’m from… London!”

“ _London_!” The girls repeat and I have to keep myself from smacking my forehead at Rukia’s obvious lie. The girls don’t seem to pick up on it and I can’t help but think that this group isn’t the brightest of them all. They soon enough bombard Rukia with questions, leaving the girl overwhelmed. Tatsuki moves to step in and stop them, but I beat her to it.

“Okay, okay.” I step in, “That’s enough now. I invited her to eat, not to die from question overload.” I look them all over, “Kuchiki-san, wanna come get some juice with me?”

“But Hoshiko, you haven’t finished—oh… okay.” Michiru quiets after seeing me down my juice carton in under a minute.

“C’mon,” I pull Rukia up, pushing her towards the roof’s exit. She seemingly relaxes, sighing as she does so.

“Thank you…” She murmurs. “Ah, so many questions…”

“Sorry,” I reply, frowning slightly as we walk down the steps. “I… I invited you to eat like I said. I didn’t think they’d do that once they found out more about you.”

“It’s tough being the new kid, huh?” Rukia asks, staring wistfully out the window as we reach the third floor and walk down the hall. I giggled slightly, nodding as I throw my hands up behind my head.

“Yeah, pretty much.” I agree, “But don’t worry, you won’t be new for long. Soon enough everyone will forget you’re new and it’ll be like you’ve always been here. Just hang out with us a little more, yeah?”

Rukia looks over at me, smiling and nods. “Yeah, you’re all much more entertaining than constantly being around Kurosaki.”

“I bet.” I laugh, “He’s got the one face. Always lookin’ mean.” Rukia laughs at my impression of him, “But I know he’s a good guy. He just doesn’t look it.”

“Yeah… Kurosaki is pretty nice.” We approached the vending machine and I stick in a few quarters, pressing the button for a can of juice. Even though I haven’t talked to her much, this Rukia seemed a lot better than the Rukia who was up on the roof just a few minutes ago. I wouldn’t mind being friends with her like this, as the whole uppity attitude didn’t do it for me.

“It’d be nice to have more girl friends, though. I don’t… I don’t have many where I’m from. So, I thank you for inviting me to lunch, Inoue-san.”

“Well, here you’ve got a whole bunch wanting to be your friend.” I lean down to grab the can, cracking it open and handing it to Rukia, “Consider me the first. And you don’t have to be so formal. Just call me Hoshiko.”

I guess things wouldn’t be so bad if I made friends with everyone now. I mean, we’d all be thrown together in a series of bad situations, so why shouldn’t I get to know who I was going to be stuck almost dying with, right? I was already on my way with Uryu and I guess starting on Rukia wouldn’t be too much of a problem after all. That just left Sado and subsequently Ichigo. If I could get through to Uryu, the King of Cold Shoulders, I could pretty much do anything.

Okay, so _new_ mission objective—aside from the obvious ‘find out why the heck you’re here’ mission—was to become better friends with everyone.

“Then I’ll have to implore you to call me Rukia.” She responds, smiling and taking the can. She sips it, nearly spitting it out, but ends up swallowing it. What a trooper. “Er… this is… good?”

“Your face says otherwise. Here… Lemme try it.” I take the can from her. She’s more than willing to give it to me and I take a large sip like Rukia did and instantly regret it. Before I know it, I’m running towards the window, trying to spit it out. “Oh, there’s something wrong, this is really fuckin’ gross.” She seems taken aback by my cursing and I keep forgetting that Inoue doesn’t curse. God, I’m going to ruin things before I even get to the actual canon.

I look at the can, inspecting it and finally find the reason for the awful taste. “Oh… it says it’s expired.” I hold out the can for her to see. Despite the situation we’re somehow in, Rukia and I seem pretty damn calm.

“Ah…” Rukia then says as blankly as she possibly can. She mechanically blinks, looking up at me. “Should we… go to the nurse?”

“No, I’m sure we’ll… _oh_ …” I grip my stomach, feeling the rumbling of something not good coming along. “I… I gotta go.” Before I know it, the two of us are racing towards the bathroom. I guess this could be considered bonding, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks go out to the two people who commented on this. Y'all are wonderful and I won't stop. Can't stop, won't stop. Hoshiko is here to stay. Be prepared


	3. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hoshiko tries to continue her daily life and ends up getting a reality check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not easy thinking up what Hoshiko could be getting into. Luckily she's the type to follow trouble just because she wants to be plot relevant

Tatsuki was a constant in my life. You’d think that seeing someone so, so often would put you off to them, but it didn’t. She was fun, refreshing and didn’t even seem to mind my slight change of personality. I tried to keep it subtle around her—only cracking jokes when I was sure they seemed more Inoue-appropriate.

All in all, Tatsuki was, for all intents and purposes, my best friend. Even more so than I’d have liked to admit. The two of us were _always_ together when we weren’t occupied with various other things, so it wasn’t like I was trying to neglect her just because I was suddenly going to start accepting my role in canon. Despite everything I had thought before, Tatsuki was still my friend and we did still have a good time. However, there was a new constant in my life as well.

Rukia.

The girl had more than taken me up on my offer to be to friends. She was making me keep the promise much more than I thought I’d have to. It seemed like what Rukia really wanted was a friend, a friend that was a girl, so she could talk and gossip and I was happy to give her as much. She was pretty funny, though it was clear she didn’t understand many of the things we did here in the Human World. She wasn’t sure what pizza was and that was as much of a shocker as anything.

“They _seriously_ don’t have pizza where you’re from?” I kind of had a feeling, considering the Soul Society was a much older-styled place. Reminiscent of days past and everyone wore kimonos and such there, so it wasn’t hard to imagine they didn’t have pizza and hamburger on a bun. But it didn’t make it any less crazy. I couldn’t survive without pizza.

She nodded vigorously, putting away a third slice of the large pizza we had been sharing. It was a rare day that Tatsuki couldn’t hang out after her club practice, so I’d asked Rukia if she wanted to hang out and after some goading from me (and surprisingly Ichigo) she’d agreed. It was funny seeing her walk into my home and comment on how nice it was and act as if she didn’t know that I had to get some of it replaced because of the hollow attack a few weeks ago.

That was even harder to believe. I couldn’t believe it’d already been a few weeks, nearing a month ago that the whole ordeal had happened. It was crazy to think that I had been here about a month ago as well.

But anyway, getting back to this, I watched Rukia practically devour the slice of pizza with a vigor that could probably only rival mine. “You have good taste in food, Ino—er, _Hoshiko_.” Rukia catches herself, smiling over at me. I giggle slightly. It’s been only a few days or so since I told her to start calling me Hoshiko. I just didn’t like the sound of being called Inoue anyway. It made me feel like it wasn’t really me they were talking to.

“Ah, it’s pretty normal, I think.” I shrug, “Hey, do you know how to bake?” I pose the question. It was something I’d been thinking about lately, after discovering my talents again. The only reason I thought of baking once more was because I still hadn’t thanked him more properly for fixing Enraku for me.

“Bake?” Rukia tilted her head. I’d almost forgotten who I was talking to. Rukia probably didn’t do much baking as a street rat nor as a noble daughter. She blinked once more before shaking her head like I’d thought. “No, I don’t…”

“Ah, okay.” I nod my head. “I was thinking of baking something—something like cookies probably tomorrow or the day after. I could teach you, if you want?”

Rukia seemed to perk up at the idea of it. She clapped her hands, nodding rapidly. “Yes! I’d love to learn something like that! That’s what friends do together, right?”

“Yeah, a lot of friends bake together. Usually stuff for the holidays, but I’m doing the cookies just because.” I tell her. Rukia was really a sweetheart, “Whenever you’re free to help me out, we can do it.”

Things were progressing nicely I think. Rukia was becoming a good, dear friend to me and so was Uryu. All that was really left, like I said, was Ichigo and Sado. Sado would probably the easiest of the two to get close to, as he wasn’t in canon as much as Ichigo was, so it was probably easier to find him out of the two.

As I said goodbye to Rukia for the day—since her phone started blaring and I knew it was a hollow attack and that I couldn’t actually _know_ that, so she’d made up some bad excuse and I just took it—I thought about what was coming next. I looked towards the timeline I’d made and hidden in my bedroom. “Ah, Kon.” I mumbled. This wasn’t an arc that had much to do with me, once again, so I’d probably just have to occupy myself.

I could spend the time finding Sado and becoming friends with him, or better yet, find out where I could learn some form of fighting. I still hadn’t gotten very far since the whole Tatsuki thing, so I really needed to up my game. I wanted to be able to punch and kick and throw down with minimal injuries.

I figure if I get good enough, I could somehow incorporate it into whatever power I get if it happens to be different from the canon. Yawning, I look at the calendar on my desk. “Hm, June 14th. Okay, I can handle this.”

* * *

The next day came quickly with classes flying by so fast it made me dizzy. I yawned loudly, perking up at the thought of lunchtime. “Yes! Lunch!” I cheered as Tatsuki pushed her desk next to mine. She smiled slightly as I pulled out my lunch box. I loved food, I mean, who couldn’t tell that? Sure, I wasn’t exactly fat, but I did, honestly, have a little more meat on me than I vaguely remember Inoue having on her. Guess my metabolism followed me here…

“You’re always so excited to eat.” Tatsuki comments as she sips on her sports drinks. “It’s like you only come here to eat lunch.”

I laugh, “Don’t you know, Tatsuki? A growing girl only comes to school to eat! It’s the atmosphere. Helps the metabolism!” She chuckles as Chizuru approaches our desk. “Oh, hey, Chizuru!”

She squeals at my greeting. Honestly, there was no helping this girl. “H-Hey… Hoshiko-chan! D-Do you mind if I… eat with you guys?” I motion her closer and she squeals again, dragging a seat away from someone else and placing it in front of my desk. When she’s seated, I start digging into my bento. I’d decided to just buy one from the store since I didn’t feel like making anything to eat. “You’re so cute, Hoshiko! The way you eat… adorable!”

“How?” Tatsuki and I say through a mouthful of food. Chizuru grabs my cheeks, pulling them. I lightly smack her hand away. I know I have chubby cheeks, but you don’t need to point them out, you know! Tatsuki often did it and it annoyed me when she did it too.

“Aw, Shi-Shi!” Chizuru coos at me. I don’t know how Inoue could’ve handled this. She was way more patient than I was because I’m at about the end of my fuse. Right as I move to tell her not to call me Shi-Shi, Ichigo enters. Or… if I was them, I’d think it was Ichigo.

It’s Kon and I’m honestly grateful for the distraction even though this isn’t going to end well. I gulp down the rest of my rice ball and trade a mock-confused look with Tatsuki as someone asks “Ichigo” how he’d gotten up onto our classroom’s floor.

Despite being first years, they’d placed us on the third floor. “Oh,” ‘Ichigo’ scoffs, waving a hand, “I just jumped, you know.” The group of students seemed stunned for a moment before they laugh, not at all taking him seriously.

Tatsuki grunted, rolling her eyes, “That Kurosaki is always up to something…” I only laugh slightly at her words. “Oi, stop all that racket, Kurosaki, we’re trying to eat.” ‘Ichigo’ looks straight at us, his eyes zeroing in on me and I hate that I’m almost as well-endowed as Inoue was. I stand, moving towards the teacher’s desk in order to get away from Tatsuki so that she isn’t involved.

‘Ichigo’ makes a beeline for me, dropping to a knee and grabbing my hand. “Well,” He starts, trying to sound suave as all get out, “Hello, my darling.” It takes all I can not to laugh at him but keep a somewhat confused and shocked expression. ‘Ichigo’ kisses my hand and I can feel my lips wobbling. Apparently, everyone else sees this look at me about to cry, because Tatsuki comes over, trying to slam her foot onto ‘Ichigo’ but he moves out of the way, jumping on the teacher’s desk.

“Hoshiko, are you alright?” Tatsuki asks, looking me over. “Kurosaki, you fuck!” The laughter and amusement I had been feeling earlier evaporated when Tatsuki came over. I had to stop her from trying to hurt him.

“I’m fine, Tatsuki. It’s okay, really.” I try to assure her. It doesn’t work as she glares full-on at ‘Ichigo’. He doesn’t seem in the least bothered by her, instead staring right back at her.

“Hey,” ‘Ichigo’ begins. Oh, god. He’s going to say it, isn’t he? “You’re actually…”

“Oh, Kurosaki-kun! You’re such an actor!” I blurt out as I move closer to him, slapping him on the back. “I didn’t know you were such a joker!” ‘Ichigo’ seems thrown off by me and falls off the teacher’s desk, face-planting onto the floor. Tatsuki stares for a moment before she busts out laughing, as does most of the class.

‘Ichigo’ stands, embarrassed by it and he doesn’t have time to react as I see Rukia run into the classroom and a flash of black barrels towards him, knocking him towards the window. As far as I can tell, that’s probably Ichigo, which means my Spiritual Sight (as I don’t know what else to call it) is growing even more, as it’s now a constant. ‘Ichigo’ grunts, slamming into a desk and grabbing Ichigo. He kicks what most would consider the air and the group is surprised to see the desks moving.

“What’s going on?” Someone shouts, “Is there a ghost?”

“I’m outta here. Good luck catchin’ me!” ‘Ichigo’ says as he jumps out the window. There’s a slight panic as everyone tries to run towards the window. I move as well, pushing people aside to get to the front. There’s a collective sigh of relief when we see ‘Ichigo’ hit the ground and keep on running.

“Ichigo!” Tatsuki screams out the window, “Get back here and apologize to Hoshiko!”

“Tatsuki, it’s alright.” I place my hand on her shoulder, “Hey, Tatsuki. I’m serious. It’s okay. He didn’t hurt me or anything… I don’t think he was feeling well.”

Tatsuki scoffs, “He’s probably not at all right in the head for what he was thinking he was trying.” She runs a hand through her short hair, looking over at me, “Why couldn’t you not have boobs or something?”

“Genetics is a real problem.” I comment, getting a small laugh from her. She calms down enough to return to our seats and I’m glad I managed to avoid a bigger confrontation.

“I’mma still kick his ass later, though.” She says as an afterthought. “Hey, wanna go shopping after school? I need new pants.”

“I wanna go shopping! We can get you a nice bathing suit for summer vacation, Hoshiko-chan!” Chizuru cuts in. Tatsuki flicks her on the arm, making the girl yelp in pain. “Tatsuki!”

“Stop being gross. I’m sure there’s plenty of other girls out there who are interested.” Tatsuki tells her, shaking her head. I laugh lightly, letting their conversation fade into the background.

The whole of the Kon arc came and went with little involvement from us aside from him appearing at lunch the one time. While it was the topic of the day, Ichigo’s strange behavior wasn’t what most people were worried about by the time the end of the day rolled around. Tatsuki hadn’t forgotten about it and I had to deal with her griping about it the whole way to the shopping district.

It wasn’t annoying, per se, but I really did want her to stop talking about it. It didn’t bother me much, so why should it continually bother her? We passed by a couple of stores before Tatsuki stood in front of a rather feminine looking store. I moved to go in until I noted that she’d stopped walking and hadn’t moved. “…Tatsuki?” I questioned, turning back to look at her. “Are you coming?”

“Ah… I dun-dunno…” She seemed unsure and this was probably the first time I’d ever seen her this way. It was odd, to say the least. “This store isn’t really… _me_ , so maybe we should go somewhere else?”

“Where else?” I turn to face her fully. “Let’s just check in this one and if you don’t like anything, we can go somewhere else, okay?” She didn’t seem to really like the idea but nodded nonetheless and we entered the store.

The store was exactly as it looked outside, with skirts and cute shorts and tops. Nothing I really wanted, considering I didn’t often wear skirts and dresses. I’d only been forced into them on my days off because it seemed like those were the only things Inoue owned. “Ah, these pants are cute, Tatsuki.” I hold up a pair. She glances at them and looks away, nodding. “Tatsuki…”

“What? Yeah, they’re cute. But they’re not my style.” She says, “Everyone would laugh if I wore those.” So that was the problem. I grunted, grabbing Tatsuki and glaring at her. She blinks, obviously my aggressiveness surprised her.

“Tatsuki, if you buy these pants, who is wearing them?”

“Um… me?” Tatsuki answers, obviously unsure of what I mean. “Hoshiko…”

“Okay! So, then the only person who has an opinion on these pants is you! If you like them, you get them.” I tell her firmly, “And if anybody says anything I… I’ll beat them up!” I make a muscle, “You see these babies? _All_ strength. They’ll kick anybody’s butt who decided that they wanna talk about you and your cute jeans.”

Tatsuki chuckles before she full on starts laughing. When she finally starts coming down from her laughter, she places a hand on my shoulder. “Oh, Hoshiko… you really know how to cheer someone up.” She smiles at me. “You’re right, though. I shouldn’t not wear something because they don’t fit my image. I should wear whatever I want!”

“Yeah!” I cheer, “Now, are you gonna buy these or not! That woman keeps staring at me!” Tatsuki glances over at the woman who is hovering near us and chuckles, shaking her head.

“No,” Tatsuki says after checking the price tag. “They’re cute but I’m not trying to go broke. Let’s find another store, cheaper.” I check the price tag on the jeans and blanche at the thought of purchasing them. I put them down and we leave the store in search of a much cheaper store.

* * *

The next day I found myself sleepily sitting in my seat next to Tatsuki when Michiru found us. She looked just as shy as she usually did, eyes darting around nervously as she approached Tatsuki’s desk. “Er… Tatsuki…?” She’d finally spoken up, her voice as quiet as ever. Tatsuki looked up, raising an eyebrow at Michiru.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Tatsuki leans back in her chair, stretching. Michiru holds out a paper, frowning.

“Ah… do you remember our Art Elective?” Michiru begins quietly. Tatsuki nods, looking at the paper, “Well, can I see your assignment? Y’know, the, uh, ‘Future Me’ assignment. I want to see if mine is okay…” She holds out her assignment for the two of us to see. It’s much better than her sewing skills, that’s for sure.

“Good morning, Ryo-chan!” I greet the girl as she walks in. She smiles, waving before taking her seat and beginning whatever preparations she has. “Ah, Michiru, that looks fine. A florist. That’s a nice idea. It really suits you.” Tatsuki looks over at me before back at the drawing and nods. She then pulls out her own.

“Wow! Tatsuki! Yours is so much better than mine!” Michiru’s eyes are wide with awe at Tatsuki’s own drawing. “I like the colors you used and everything!” Tatsuki’s drawing was pretty good, I’ll admit. It did seem like she put a lot of time into it—plus it didn’t hurt that she was kind of a good artist from the jump.

“Heh,” I can tell Tatsuki is rather prideful in her drawing, “Yeah, it’s no big deal. This is me, as the newest champion of Vale Tudo. My dad helped me out a bit with what colors to use, though.” She said sheepishly, rubbing her thumb across her nose, “He’s an animator, you know.” She nods matter of factly. I greet Momoharu and Keigo as they enter the classroom. “What about you, Hoshiko? You did the assignment, right?”

“Yeah, I did!” I pull it out of my desk and drop it onto the desk. “Ta-da! Great, right?” The two stare at it for a moment and I’m waiting for their feedback. Now, I know I’m not the best artist, but I spent a lot of time coloring this!

“What… What is it?” Tatsuki turns her head, trying to figure it out. “Hoshiko, what’s this?”

“It’s me!” I point to the figure in the drawing, “And I’m running a bakery! Can’t you tell?” Tatsuki doesn’t say anything while Michiru looks elsewhere, “C’mon, I know I’m not a great artist, but guys… isn’t it obvious?”

“Not really, sport. Why don’t you ask someone else too?” Tatsuki suggest. I pout but nonetheless agree, moving towards the door just as Ichigo enters. “I’m sure Kurosaki has some common sense to agree with us.”

“Oh! Kurosaki, good morning!” I greet him with a smile, “Can you look at my drawing and tell me what it is?” Ichigo greets me back, smiling widely and I take a step back. That’s not Ichigo—at least not the Ichigo I’ve come to know. He doesn’t smile. I mean, not that he doesn’t smile ever, it’s just that… he doesn’t smile.

“It’s a bakery, right?” Ichigo says, pointing to something on my drawing. “This is a wedding cake.” I turn to look at Tatsuki and Michiru, who seem shocked that Ichigo could actually point out what my drawing was about. I stick my tongue out at the two as I turn back to Ichigo, pulling on his ear, much to his confusion.

“Yes, you’re right!” I cheer. He smiles a little softer, “Thank you, see, I knew it was obvious. Thank you, Kurosaki.” He blows past me after that and heads over to sit with Keigo and Mizuiro who are joking around.

“Wow, Kurosaki looked so nice when you spoke to him, Hoshiko.” Michiru comments. I shake my head at her. “Are you guys, like, friends now?”

“No, something’s wrong. He’s really tense. That smile was fake.” I had glanced at my timeline this morning and knew that it was the day before his mother had passed. From what I remembered about this episode, Ichigo put on a smile to make it seem like everything was okay when he was rather upset.

“Guys, what’s today’s date?” Tatsuki then asked. Michiru fumbled to remember what day it was while I easily let the date tumble from my mouth. “Ah… well, that makes sense. Tomorrow Kurosaki won’t be in school.”

“What? Why?” Michiru asks, tilting her head, “How do you know?”

“Tomorrow is June 17th and he never comes to school on June 17th.” Tatsuki says with finality. I trade looks with Michiru and shrug. Of course, I already know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I couldn’t act like I knew. After all, Inoue was somewhat of a newcomer. She only moved to Karakura around middle school.

After that, the day passes without much incident and I’m once again left alone. I couldn’t find Rukia at all after I’d gotten out of class, so I went to the Handicrafts Club as usual. Despite it being near middle of the week, only Uryu was in the club room right now.

“Aloha, Ishida!” I’d long since dropped the honorific and soon enough, I’d drop using his last name on my own. The boy looked up, noting my arrival and grunted out a greeting, continuing his work. “Ah, today was tiring, huh?”

He doesn’t respond much when I talk to him, but it’s clear he listens to me. I sit down at the station I normally use and begin sewing the small project I’d started. I was making something like a scarf. I say like because it’s not exactly much like a scarf yet. I’ve gotten slightly better, but not by much, honestly.

Sewing is good because it’s kind of mindless—especially the making of scarves. Once you know what you’re doing—as long as you’re not doing any patterns—it’s pretty easy to just let your body do it by itself. It gives me time to think too.

With June 17th being tomorrow, I knew I was going to hang out with Tatsuki, but more than that, I realize that this was getting close to the halfway mark of this arc. Getting our powers would be getting really close to the end, so I had a bit of time until then. Really, what was coming next was us going to see Don Kanonji’s show and I didn’t have any involvement in that, but it was a good basing point.

“Ishida.” I call out. He doesn’t seem that bothered, and I can see him stop, though he doesn’t turn to look at me. “Do you think ghosts are real?” The question seems relevant enough considering what universe I’m in.

“I… I don’t know.” He answered after a long moment of quiet. “Where did a question like that come from?”

“Oh…” I quickly come up with an answer. What could I say? Should I go out and be truthful? No, he might think I’m weird despite him being a Quincy. I could go a little truthful, I guess. But not outright reveal anything. “I dunno… sometimes I feel like I get a chill. Like something’s watching me, y’know?”

Surprisingly, he agrees, “Yes, actually. Sometimes I feel like something’s watching me and when I turn, it’s not there.”

“Yes!” I nearly knock over the machine next to me. “Uh, I feel like I can kind of see it. But it’s just… _blurry_.”

“You must have a gift or something.” Uryu responds, beginning to sew again. “I don’t think I’ve felt like that.”

Oh, this guy is a good liar. He’s a _very_ good liar. If I didn’t know what I knew, I’d think he was being completely truthful. Little liar. Though I know why he’s lying to me. “Ishida… do you like cookies?” I then ask him. I was still thinking about making him cookies to thank him for Enraku, so as random as my line of questioning probably was to him, it had purpose to me.

“…Only macaroons with lychee in them.” He answers truthfully. I nod, taking in this information. So, he was a macaroon guy. I wonder if that’s what his mom would make for him. But lychee was gross. Tatsuki and I had tried it once before and it was pretty nasty.

“Ah… I like sugar cookies. And chocolate chip ones. Pretty much all cookies except ginger snaps.” I answer in turn, even though I’m sure he probably doesn’t care at this point. He doesn’t respond and I return to my work, stitching the scarf together.

June 17th came much quicker than anticipated and all I could do was attend school, noting the obvious absence of Ichigo… and subsequently Rukia, much like everyone else. Tatsuki suggested we hang out when she was done with practice and I had agreed, only because she was buying food. Until then, I had some time to myself before I had to return to get her and walk home with her.

I had time to myself and nothing to do. I aimlessly walked the streets in my uniform, trying to see what new places I could find. Hell, maybe I’d make my way towards the Urahara shop. I could poke around in there for a bit, considering it was, on the surface, a candy store. Maybe I could even find somewhere to learn how to fight.

As I walked, I couldn’t help but note that I hadn’t interacted with very many characters since arriving. It was usually the girls and Uryu, and then on occasion, Rukia and maybe Ichigo. I hadn’t seen Sado much or even Keigo and Mizuiro. I guess we just ran in different circles or something.

I guess these characters weren’t as— “Ow!” I grunted, squatting down in pain and griping my head. I look up, seeing a boy with hair just as bright red as my own. “Ow! You squirt! What’s the big idea?”

“Sorry, lady.” He said, almost completely unapologetic. “Thought you were somethin’ else.” I stand up, looking down at the ‘tough’ looking boy and then it hits me. It’s Jinta. Which means… Urahara’s shop was closer than I thought. I look around, trying to find it to no avail. I guess we weren’t that close…

“Who are you with? And why are you swinging a bat around, trying to injure people?” I nearly yell at him, raising my hand to slam down on the top of his head. He yelps when my hand makes contact and it takes all I am not to make a sound. This boy’s head was a lot harder than originally thought. “Maybe you should’ve looked before hitting someone!”

But what could Jinta be doing? It was much too early in canon for him to be doing anything, right? He grunts, rubbing his head before he looked up at me, hate in his eyes. “Whatever, lady. Now run along! I’ve got business to attend to.”

I scoff at his attitude as he sticks out his tongue, turning tail and walking away. He leaves me standing in the middle of the sidewalk as he heads towards the way I just came from. I was just planning on walking around, but… well, screw that. I was gonna follow him. I mean, I didn’t have anything better to do right now anyway.

I wait until Jinta is a good distance away from me before I turn around and follow him at a slow pace. He doesn’t look back, probably thinking I’d either changed my mind or something. Maybe he didn’t even care that I was following him. Either way, it worked out for me. I wanted to see what he was going to do, all alone. Where was Ururu? The two were a pair and yet here Jinta was… with no Ururu in sight.

Jinta continues walking, though it’s apparent he’s finally caught on to what’s happening here. He walks a little faster, which I can easily keep up with, considering I’m just taller than him and therefore, have slightly longer legs. It’s no problem matching his slightly longer strides as he tries to speed up. He’s running now and so am I, kind of like a chase. “Why are you following me, crazy lady?”

“Where are you going, stupid boy?” I shout back. He doesn’t answer and instead speeds up. I don’t have the stamina for this, but I keep trying to run after him anyway. Screw finding somewhere to teach me to fight, I needed to sign up for the damn gym!

As I’d been here for so long with nothing real to do, I’d completely forgotten that everything they do has some type of running involved. Jesus fuck! We pass through a crowded market-like area with Jinta barreling through people and me ducking and dodging and apologizing for ‘my little brother’.

Jinta stops, panting and leaning against a wall while I stop a few paces behind him, hands on my knees as I pant just as loud, if not a little louder than him. “What…” He breathes out, “Do you… want…?”

“I…” I’m panting just as bad, and I need to formulate an excuse. What reason did I have for chasing down a little boy I didn’t even know—and technically shouldn’t have even met yet? I didn’t really have a reason, because even when I was chasing him, I didn’t think I’d ever catch him, so I didn’t formulate something to say. I just assumed he’d get away from me. “You’re… slow for a little seven-year-old.”

“Hey! Watch it, hussy! I’m ten, okay?”

“H- _Hussy!”_ I repeat the word, looking him over. I’m about to kick this little boy… well, I would’ve if the hollow hadn’t beaten me to it. Jinta slams into the fence and cracks it in half. Standing in the spot where Jinta was standing was a large, tarantula-like creature, with some kind of slime dripping from its mouth. “What the fuck is that?!”

“Oh, so you can see it…” Jinta coughs, pulling himself out of the fence. I shouldn’t be able to see it. I shouldn’t be able to see this at all yet! What was going on? “That’s probably why you followed me. Wanna kill your first hollow an’ all, huh?” He smirks, grabbing the bat off the ground.

“Kill? I can’t kill that thing! I already dealt with one of these and I didn’t even _do_ anything to it!” I yelled at him, backing away only to fall onto my butt and start crawling backwards. These things were scary, I’m not gonna lie and having to see one up close without any powers? This was something akin to a nightmare.

“Ugh, right, of course.” Jinta seems as calm as ever as he charges at the spider-thing and swings his bat, smacking it. It screams loudly and spits the slime at him. “Don’t just sit there, move girl!” His words seem to snap me out of my daze, if only for the moment and I scramble away from the spot I’d been sitting in. A moment later and I would’ve been disintegrated. I hit the wooden fence, grunting as I do so and notice Jinta stuck underneath one of its legs.

Nearby I see his bat and make a run for it while the spider is distracted. “Hey!” I yell, gripping the bat. It’s a lot lighter than I’d anticipated, and I run towards it, slamming the bat into the leg that Jinta is caught underneath and it practically explodes off the body, making the spider wobble. Jinta stands, snatching the bat from me.

“I guess you’re not _that_ useless.” He comments, firmly gripping his bat. “Ah, I would’ve finished if it weren’t for _you_ being around, you know.”

I glare down at him just as the spider seems to regain itself, roaring once more and charging towards us. Jinta pushes me back, running towards it and sliding underneath to get around to the back, though it doesn’t seem like the spider cares much about him and instead keeps moving towards me.

I back up, trying to run but really, I’m more paralyzed with fear than I’d ever been, even when I was attacked by Sora. At least I knew what was happening then. This? This is all new. I could really die here. This wasn’t at all mentioned in the canon. “Ah…Ah…. _AH!_ ” I scream, covering my face with my hands.

My scream—at least to me—seems to echo loudly and the spider screeches in obvious agony. I uncover myself slightly to look, noting that another leg is gone. Jinta seems disoriented, swaying slightly. Was my scream really that loud?

“Ji—Boy!” I manage to correct myself. Jinta seems to snap out of it before the spider does and jumps, breaking off another one of the spider’s legs.

“What the hell was that?” He asks me, coming to stand in front of me. “Did you scream like that?”

“I… I guess so…” I tell him. Was this a manifestation of my power? So early? I couldn’t remember Inoue doing something like a sonic scream in the canon. Was this my own power?

“Can you do it again?” He then asks. “I’mma go in for the kill and I need you to distract the spider again.” Was he really enlisting my help in dealing with this thing? Was this really happening? I mean, sure, I had that scream that I did and that was kind of useful, but could I really do it again?

“I… I can try.” I tell him, although I’m not 100% certain if I’ll ever be able to do that again. I don’t even know _what_ it was that I did. Jinta pushes me out of the way and I slam into the broken part of the fence, feeling pain explode across my arm. I grunt, biting back a loud scream of pain as I try to think. There’s a nasty cut on my arm now but I don’t have much time to think about it. My mind is racing and I don’t know what to do next. I can only dodge out of the way of the spider’s webbing and I open my mouth, willing a scream to come out.

This time, it’s much, _much_ louder and the Spider is having trouble standing up. It sways and wobbles while Jinta attacks from above, slamming his bat down and squashing the spider with a loud squelching sound. I wince when some of the nasty slime and blood comes near me. It doesn’t splatter me, which I’m thankful for, since that slime was something like acid.

And just like that, my second hollow encounter is over. Though, if I hadn’t decided to follow Jinta… this wouldn’t have been my second hollow encounter at all. I slide down to the ground, feeling boneless.

Did I _really_ think I could participate in the canon like this? Jinta approached me, panting heavily and looking down at me. “Hey, you sure you’re just a normal human?” He asks me. I look up at him, my eyes half-lidded. “Cause that scream sure says otherwise.”

“I… I don’t know anymore…” I tell him honestly. He seems to take my words and nods, sighing.

“Usually I’d have to erase your memories, but…” Jinta begins, “I don’t feel like it. Where do you think you’re going?”

“Um… h-home?” I try to stand, only to fall back down. I feel so weak and nasty and useless—I’m sore and hurt and this fight only lasted about five minutes or so. And I’d done like, two things. I really needed to build up my stamina, that was for sure.

There was no actual way I could participate in any of the fights like this. Jeez, Inoue, you're a lot stronger than I am. This stuff is really scary.

“Which way is your house?” He asks. I weakly point in the direction we had just come from and he grunts, lifting me up.

“I was… goin’ that way anyway.” He replies, though it’s obvious he’s just trying to act tough. “And I mean, since you helped me out—e-even though I didn’t need it! —I guess I can… take you there. You better not fall asleep!”

I chuckle, lazily pulling on his ear. “Thanks, kiddo.” I mumble to him.

“Stay awake, you hear? I don’t know where I’m going!” He tells me as he begins walking, but it’s hard to stay awake, considering the moment I stopped moving, all my energy just drained away.

When I wake up, it’s definitely not at my house. It’s in a large room with a tatami mat floor and sliding screen doors. “Ohho, so our little heroine is awake now?” A distinctly older, male voice cuts through the silence. There’s amusement in his voice and I turn, seeing a man sitting at a low table. “I thought you’d never wake up, darling.”

It’s Kisuke Urahara and I know that I’m fucked.

God, why was it so hard to mind my own business?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'dear diary, 
> 
> today i met urahara kisuke and now i rly, truly know what love is. 
> 
> always giving my best,  
> hoshiko
> 
> p.s. i also almost lost my life to a giant spider, but... urahara kisuke, y'know?'


	4. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hoshiko meets Urahara earlier than anticipated and decides to roll with the punches, literally.

Like I said, I’m _fucked_ . Like, super-mega-heavy fucked. I wasn’t supposed to meet Urahara or even know about him until… well, maybe a couple of weeks from now when Uryu proposed his challenge to Ichigo. And yet, here I was, meeting the guy all early. And I had to say, the anime and manga did _not_ do this man justice. He was in one word: _smashable_. I’d smash any day of the damn week, honestly.

He smirked at me, obviously waiting for a reply and all I could come up with was, “Um.” Yeah, intelligent, I know, but c’mon, I was face to face with what one could consider the orchestrator of _everything_ in this universe. He was everybody’s informant, the one who embedded the Hōgyoku into Rukia, the guy who trains Ichigo and helps us get to where we gotta go and… resident candy store owner.

...But right now? He was just some weird, unknown man whose house I was in. And I _probably_ wasn't reacting the way he wanted or expected, since I was being quiet and not hysterical and... I'm sure it was more than obvious that I was undressing him with my eyes.

“Jinta brought you here.” He says, as if answering the question, I’d yet to allow myself to think of, so caught up in staring into his eyes.

I’m guessing he’s expecting me to know who Jinta is, considering I never traded names with the boy. “But, I’m sure you guessed that, Inoue Hoshiko of Karakura High School.” I move to ask how he knew that, but he pulls out my school ID, spinning it on the edge and I frown, damn me for still wearing this stupid uniform.

“How long have I been out?” I decide to ask instead. He seems surprised by the line of questioning. He was probably thinking I’d ask more _‘Who are you?/What am I doing here?/How did I get here?’_ line of questions, but I didn’t care.

Even if I _didn’t_ already know who he was, that’s not the exact type of questions I’d want answers to. See, I’d probably ask something like _‘Are you single?’_ but I decided to keep my mouth shut. After all, I was a teenage girl trying to hit on some 1000+ year old man. I couldn’t let my thirst get the better of me no matter how attractive he was. Not right now, anyway. What I needed right now were answers.

“About an hour or so.” He replied, “Some crazy power you got there, girly. Sonic screaming? Nearly tore Jinta’s ear drums and you only used it twice!”

“Is he alright?” I then ask. I knew that Jinta had been affected by the scream the first time like the spider hollow had been, but I didn’t know the extent to which I’d affected him. And I was curious as to how he hadn't been affected the second time. Maybe he tore a piece of his shirt off or the scream was somehow ranged? Still, I felt bad, but it’s not like I could heal him… yet.

“Oh, yeah, he’ll be fine. We’re more worried about you, dear.” Urahara says dismissively of my concern, “I mean, you’re not a normal human, are you? Well… _somewhat_ , considering it doesn’t seem like you’ve tangled with a hollow judging by your less than stellar performance.”

“I… don’t know what you mean.” I play dumb, waiting to see what kind of theory he had behind my whole being here and getting involved with Jinta.

He shrugs, tapping the table once more, “I dunno. You can see ghosts and hollows, yeah?” I nod, only because there’s no reason to deny. He could easily pull a trick on me and make me tell him I see something that’s not supposed to be seen. “That makes you _not_ a regular human. The whole sonic screaming thing just adds to that. Who are you _really ?_ ”

“I’m Inoue Hoshiko.” I tell him, sitting up all the way, “And that’s all I know. If I’m different from other humans, this is the first I’ve been made aware of it.” Come to think of it, I don’t even know what kind of race type Inoue was to begin with. She was similar to Shinigami in that she had an incantation to recite before releasing the Shun Shun Rikka, but they weren't a sword or physical weapon and they were sentient on their own. It was hard to place her. She (Inoue) was an enigma all her own.

“Hmmm…” Urahara takes in the information I’ve given him. “Jinta has decided not to erase your memories.” He says next, albeit rather slowly, as if he was debating telling me anything more. “Something like owing you for helping him out.” He waves his hand, “So, me—being the _generous_ man that I am—have decided to respect his wishes. After all, I don’t want you waking up tomorrow and breaking something with that scream of yours and questioning it. Plus, I haven’t done memory erasing in a good, long time, so I might accidentally erase something I’m not supposed to.”

“I see…” I look down at my lap, “Thank you… er, both of you.” I was safe, at least for now. If what he said was true, then what if I ended up not remembering anything? That would honestly suck, but then again would it work? Because when Rukia tried her memory scrambler, I remembered what actually happened and what she had placed inside my head.

But was that only because of me not exactly being from here? I’m guessing Urahara saw my slightly puzzled and concerned look, as he decided to speak up again. “Right, now, let’s see…” Urahara taps his chin, “You… until you know how to control that scream, I’d suggest that you should stay far, far away from hollows and the like, understand? Do anything you can to not draw attention to yourself.”

I nod, that was originally my plan. I hadn’t meant to get involved with anything that wasn’t a part of Inoue’s canon. I mean, I _did_ want to make things my own but that didn't mean I needed to go and needlessly get into trouble. Before this, I didn’t have any encounters with hollows until my power debut. This was unplanned, I honestly shouldn’t have followed him, but I did and I had to deal with the consequences. “And using that power will obviously draw attention to you, so maybe you shouldn’t use it either, or at least get some training.”

“Training?” I question. This wasn’t going at all like how I’d thought. I assumed he’d reprimand me and then let me go and probably when I went to sleep, he'd take the memory from me or something, but it seemed like he had other things in mind. I frown, looking at the table, “On how to use that scream?”

Urahara nods, pulling out his fan, “I mean, it’s not going to go away, so you should put it to good use. I know a coupla people who could use a power like yours once it’s been trained. That is… if you’re willing.”

_Was_ I willing? Now that I think about it, it’s not like it matters that I’m getting acquainted with Urahara earlier than anticipated. Maybe I could use this to my advantage somehow? If it was Urahara himself who was going to help me out with this, then maybe I could somehow see if he knew anything about… me. Well, my being here more specifically. And if not, well, it didn’t hurt to be acquainted with Urahara. He was, after all, a bad ass.

“What would… this _training_ entail?” I decide to ask. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. At this point, I already knew that I wasn’t completely following Inoue’s canon, but it was fine, I’d accepted that the moment I decided to follow Jinta down that road. And I _did_ say that I would make this canon into my own… kind of. “And… why are you offering this to me?”

Urahar chuckles, fanning himself. “I needed a new student and you’re pretty cute too, huh? A third, cute student. What are the odds? The Gods have smiled down upon me today!” He laughs as if it was the funniest joke he’d ever told before the smile drops. “But, to be honest, I think you’re interesting, to say the least. And it’s best to keep a close eye on someone like you.”

I didn't know what he meant by ‘someone like me’ but I shrug, I’d do the same, honestly. If some random showed up and did what I did, it'd be best to watch them. And I'm guessing Urahara already knew that I was mostly harmless considering he'd had about an hour to check me over for anything and probably came up with nothing short of a mystery. “Fair enough. Now answer my other question, please.”

“Ah, so feisty. Reminds me of my best friend.” Urahara shakes his head, though there’s amusement in his tone. “But, I won’t tell you about the training if you’re not interested. How’s about this? After you’re done with school tomorrow, you come back here and we’ll get started, hm?”

I didn’t fancy the idea of coming back here not knowing what I would be doing. Especially considering Urahara was notorious for his hair-brained schemes where he didn’t inform anyone of their role until the moment was right. …But I wasn’t going to be made a fool of. The look in his eyes told me that he didn’t think I’d return tomorrow, but I’d prove him wrong. Or maybe he was just baiting me, either way, I was still coming back. A second chance to see Urahara's fine ass? I'd taken it in a heartbeat.

“Okay,” I say simply, “But I don’t know how to get here.”

“Ah, I’ll have Jinta meet you at the school and you’ll follow him back here, okay? Four o’clock PM sharp, alright? A minute later and he’s leaving.” Urahara closes his fan, tapping it against the corner of his mouth. “Ah, it’s getting late, we don’t want a pretty girl like you walking in the dark all alone.” He slides my School ID and cell phone back over to me.

I move from the futon that I’d been sitting on and grab them both, testing out my legs to see if I can walk. “You should be fine to go; my associate has already healed you up.” Urahara comments as he too stands, leading me out of the room and down the hall. We pass by various rooms, until we’re at the front of the store where my shoes are kicked off rather haphazardly. I sit down, pulling them on before I stand and turn to look at Urahara.

“Well, I’ll be back tomorrow.” I say to him, unsure how to say goodbye. He only smiles, patting me on the head and heading back into his home. I turn towards the entrance, pushing open the door and immediately ducking as a ball comes flying towards me. “Yo! What the fuck?!”

“Oh, you’re awake, weakling?” Jinta stops rubbing his knuckles against Ururu’s head to run over to me. I chop him on the head once more, which he grunts at. “Tch, even after I saved you, dumbass?”

I roll my eyes. This boy was just as annoying as he was in the show, but I guess I could handle it. “Thanks, you brat. But I saved you first, didn’t I?” He grunts, looking away. “Tomorrow you’re coming to the high school to bring me back here.”

“What? And why do I have to do that?”

“Because I’m going to be your new training partner.”

Both he and Ururu look surprised at my words and I can only smile, waving goodbye as I run away with Jinta calling after me. Boy! Wasn’t this exciting?

Because I was gone most of the day, I wasn’t sure if Tatsuki would even want to come over, but when I got back to my apartment, there she was, sitting on the curb, waiting for me. “Hoshiko!” She stomps over to me, pulling my cheek.

“Ow! Tatsuki!” I whined, slapping her hand away. “What’s that for?”

“I called you _five_ times! And some weirdo answered the phone! Where were you?” She asks me, concern and anger clear on her face. I inwardly curse Urahara. I should’ve questioned why he had my phone. What did he say to her?

“Oh, that…?” I laugh nervously, looking around. “I… um… I was at a club meeting! And I left my phone behind, so I had to go back for it! Ha-ha…” Tatsuki doesn’t look like she readily buys the story, but she doesn’t question it and sighs, shaking her head.

“Fine, let’s just go inside.” Tatsuki motions for me to open the door and I pull out my keys, glad to see they’re still in my pocket. We enter my house after I unlocked the door and Tatsuki makes herself comfortable while I head into the kitchen to get some snacks.

When we’re finally seated, she sighs, tapping her finger on the table. “I’d wanted to tell you about Kurosaki.” She begins, sitting up and grabbing the juice box. “I mean, you seemed to notice earlier that he was rather… _tense_.”

I didn’t think she was going to do this, considering the setting is all wrong and everything. Mostly, I thought she’d forgotten, but I guess she didn’t. I bite into the cookie, nodding my head, “Yeah, I did notice, what was up with that? Is he alright?”

“Ah, well… today is the day his mother died.” Tatsuki begins and I settle in for the story she’s about to tell me. Somehow, hearing it from Tatsuki in person makes it all the more sadder. Before, sure, I’d felt for Ichigo, but now I actually felt bad. He didn’t deserve that.

“Yikes…” I say after Tatsuki finishes, “That’s pretty harsh…” I wasn’t sure what to say. Unlike he and Tatsuki, all I had was Sora. My parents—well, _Inoue’s_ parents—were abusive. There was still a dark scar on my forehead from where I’d been hit once, which I covered with my bangs. Of course, I couldn’t remember much of it from Inoue’s point of view and from the manga/show, they didn’t even show all of it. Just enough to explain what happened. So, all in all, I couldn’t relate to feeling for a parent’s death.

Tatsuki nodded, gulping down the rest of her juice. “Well, I guess I should get going. And next time, don’t just leave your phone around willy-nilly, okay?”

I laugh, getting up to follow her to the door. “Yeah, I won’t. I’m sorry Tatsuki. And I’ll see you tomorrow.” After Tatsuki left, I entered the kitchen.

While I couldn’t remember much of my previous life, I could remember bits and pieces. Snippets here and there and what I could remember clearly was that whenever I felt sad or hurt or I knew someone that felt like that, my mother would tell me to bake them something. Of course, I knew Ichigo was probably feeling better after his encounter with the hollow that killed his mother, I still wanted to do something for him. And I still had to properly make something for Uryu.

Of course, I felt kind of bad, since I’d told Rukia that I’d bake something with her, but it was getting late and I didn’t want her to come over so late even though she could probably handle herself better than I could. So, I set to work. I didn’t know how to make macaroons, so that would be an experience in itself.

After figuring out that I _didn’t_ have the right ingredients for macaroons, I decided that Uryu would have to wait once again—it was late and I really didn’t want to lose my muse by going to the store to buy lychee. For now, I had the right ingredients to make some bangin’ ass sugar cookies, so that’s what I did. And let me tell you, baking really did a wonder for me. I was calmer and I was more than ready for what was in store for me tomorrow. I decided that I wouldn't worry too much about what Urahara had planned for me, or his reasonings behind offering to train me. If I actually went through with it, I'm sure I'd find out in soon enough, so I just had to let things progress as they would, even though this wasn't how they would normally go.

* * *

The next day, I didn’t get to actually speak to Ichigo until lunchtime when he was about to duck out of the classroom while Rukia was talking to Tatsuki and the other girls. I quickly made sure I wasn’t seen and grabbed my box, slipping out of the classroom and following him down the hallway. Sure, this felt kind of stalker-ish and totally made anyone watching think I had a crush on him or something, but in my mind, I was only being nice. I genuinely just wanted to be Ichigo’s friend and get to know him, since we’re supposed to be stuck together for the majority of canon anyway.

When he emerges from the bathroom I almost miss him, “Kurosaki!” I yelp. He turns, opening his mouth to question me and I stuff a cookie into his mouth, making him stumble back in surprise. He reaches up and breaks off the cookie, chewing the piece stuck in his mouth.

“I-Inoue?” He questions after swallowing. “I—what—these are… pretty good.” I giggle, nodding, “But… what’s this for?”

“Yesterday.” I say, “I know you weren’t feeling well, and now I actually know why. Tatsuki told me.” He looks conflicted, but I grab his arm. “I mean, I asked, so I’m sorry for being nosy.”

“It’s fine. Not like it’s your fault.” He tells me. I let out a light breath and shake my head.

“No, it’s not your fault either.” I look him in the eyes, “I know… that when someone close to you dies… it’s easy to blame yourself, but you shouldn’t. Would that person really want you to do that?” Ichigo turns my words over in his head before he finally shakes his head.

“No... she wouldn’t.” He finally answers, looking down at the cookie. “Thanks, Inoue.”

“No problem, Kurosaki!” I grin, “Listen, if you ever want to talk, I’m here. I know we aren’t really friends, but… it’s always good to talk.” I pull his ear. “Do you want another cookie?”

Ichigo rubs his ear before finishing off the cookie I’ve given him. “I… yeah.”

“This one is orange-flavored.” I hold it out to him. He seems a little hesitant to accept the cookie so I bring it a little closer to me, tilting my head.

It’s then that he moves to clarify, clearing his throat as he says, “Do you have another flavor? I can’t have anything with oranges… I’m allergic.”

“Oh! Oh! Yeah, sorry!” I dig to the bottom of the tin and pull out a regular sugar cookie. “I didn’t know you were allergic. Good thing that first one wasn't orange-flavored, haha…”

I guess this was just one of the things you learned when you talked to someone more and more. They’d never mentioned this at all. First, I find out Uryu only likes macarons with lychee in them and Ichigo is allergic to oranges. What’s next? Urahara watches daytime soap operas in Spanish?

“I don’t usually tell people that I’m allergic to anything.” Ichigo comments, taking the cookie from me. “These are really good, Inoue. I thought you only made weird food.” He pauses for a moment, “You’ve been different lately.”

“Different?” I tilt my head. So even thick-headed Ichigo has noticed that I’m not exactly the same person anymore? Jeez, I thought I was doing a good job. Guess not.

“Not bad different, just… different.” He clarifies, biting into the cookie. “You’ve never gone out of your way to approach me before.”

“Maybe it’s time to turn over a new leaf for me.” I look out the window, “After all, when a sumo wrestler enters your house with a gun…”

Ichigo chuckles, shaking his head. “Right, yeah, that would change anybody, I think.” Ichigo finishes off the cookie and clears his throat, “We should get back, I did want to buy lunch today...”

“Ah! Me too! I mean, I wanna eat… uh, I’ll see you later, Kurosaki!” I wave to him as I head back to the classroom and he heads down towards the cafeteria.

The rest of the day passed easily and my cookies, lemme tell you, were a _hit_ . I knew they were going to be, cause, pft I made them, but I literally didn’t have even a _crumb_ left at the end of the day inside that tin. Luckily, I’d made another, small tin of cookies to bring with me to Urahara’s. I didn’t have to worry about Tatsuki finding out or following, because she, once again, had practice today, so I could leave the school without making up some excuse to ditch her early to go with Jinta after school.

Just as I was about to leave, Rukia approached me. “Hello, Hoshiko.” She greeted me, a pleasant smile on her face.

“Oh, hey Rukia. What’s up?” I zip up my school bag quickly, trying to hide the fact that I’d brought with me a track suit.

“Those cookies you made were… what was the word you used again? Lighter?” Rukia tapped her chin, actually thinking of what I had told her. I chuckled, shaking my head. She was really trying to use my lingo, it was pretty much adorable to watch her.

“The word’s ‘lit’, Rukia.” I inform her, the smile still on my face, “And thank you, I’m glad you liked them.”

“Yes, they were very lit indeed.” Rukia nodded resolutely. It was hilarious to watch someone use the word so seriously. What would be even funnier is hearing someone like Byakuya use it or even the Captain Commander. That’d be a laugh riot. “I remember your saying that we could do some baking together. I was hoping to take you up on that offer.”

“Oh! You’re ready!” I clap my hands. I was actually excited for it. I hadn’t had much time to hang out with Rukia aside from during class and lunch and when she occasionally swung by the Handicrafts Club. “When did you want to start baking?”

“Are you free this weekend?” She asks me, “I should be mostly free, hoping nothing comes up.”

“Of course!” I nod enthusiastically, “I was thinking macarons, we can make a bunch of different flavors. But we can also make other things too.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Rukia smiles at me. “Then I’ll be at your house this weekend. Just mail me the details—oh wait, you can’t do that if you don’t have my number! How forgetful of me.” I pull out my phone just as she pulls out hers. We quickly exchange numbers and finish just as her phone begins ringing loudly. “I should get going, however. But I shall see you at school tomorrow.”

“Yup, I’ll see ya then.” I wave at her as she leaves, noting that I have about an hour to spare before I meet up with Jinta.

* * *

 Okay, so the daytime soap operas aren’t in Spanish, but in Filipino and Urahara is pretty much a romantic sap. Jinta kicks the man while he’s laying down, practically drowning in his tears and a bunch of tissues. “We’re back, sir.” He says, though I’m sure the addition of ‘sir’ is more out of spite than anything else.

“Ohoh…” Uraharaseems to instantly clear up, his tears gone as he wipes his face one last time. “Inoue-san! I didn’t think you’d come!”

“I told you I was.” I reminded him, smiling. “Look, I brought sugar cookies.” I pull the tin out of my bag. Jinta grabs them out of my hand, “I’ve been told they’re pretty good.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Jinta pulls the top off the tin and reaches him, stuffing a cookie into his mouth. There’s a slight moment where his face betrays him by slowly melting into a look of pure bliss before he hardens his face and finishes the cookie. “They’re… alright.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” I laugh, rolling my eyes. “You can be honest, you know.” He scoffs, handing the tin off to Ururu, though I notice he’s got a couple of cookies in his hand as he walks off.

“Okay, kiddos.” Urahara claps his hands. “Let’s go somewhere more fitting for our purposes.”

If Urahara meant that he was going to take us down into that landscape-y place beneath the shop, oh boy. I can’t believe I was going to go down there so soon! And for my own training! Training. Shit, I’d forgotten that the training was why I was here. What was he going to put me through? Have Ururu smack the black off my skin in an attempt to train me?

I don’t know why I didn’t just… not show up like Urahara was obviously planning on me to. I guess I was just upset that he was doubting me and I wasn’t one to be doubted, so I showed up without ever taking a moment to think about what this training could entail. I had asked yesterday, but he didn’t say anything, so any sane person would show up to find out, right?

Well, not really. And as we descend the ladder into the room beneath the shop, I can’t help but feel that I just entered something I wasn’t supposed to. “Wow!” I yell, looking across the room. It looks way more like an actual desert than a room. Even the clouds painted on the walls seem to move. “This place is huge! What is this?”

“I’m glad you’re impressed!” Urahara presses his hand to his chin, looking triumphant. “Someone needs to be. Ururu and Jinta weren’t impressed at all…”

I look over at the two kids who are just standing around as if coming down here was a daily occurrence, which I’m sure it could’ve been. “Well, I think it’s impressive. How did you build it?”

“Oh, it took me a very long time!” He gestures to it. “I had to get everything imported!” I’m not sure if he’s lying or not, considering it’s been a long time since I watched Ichigo undergo his training with Urahara. He clears his throat, returning my attention to him, “So, Inoue-chan, you showed up for training. Like I said, I’m surprised you did. But just because you’re a human doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you.”

“Right!” I nod. I can feel anticipation, nervousness, excitement and a bunch of other things coursing through my veins. “I wasn’t expecting you to.”

“Ha-ha, there’s a good girl.” He smirks at me. “Now, my name is Urahara Kisuke and I’m going to be your new teacher. Kids, introduce yourselves.”

“Hanakari Jinta.” Jinta crosses his arms, sniffing.

“Tsumugiya Ururu. A pleasure to meet you.” Ururu bows to me. I smile returning it.

“Inoue Hoshiko, nice to meet you all!”

“Ah, so cute.” Urahara coos at us before straightening up. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get down to business. I wanna test you, Inoue-chan. You understand that, right?”

“Of course.” I’m a little nervous as to what he has in store for me. I’m more similar to a normal human than Ichigo is, so whatever he does will hit me at least two more times than it would Ichigo. And I’d need more healing than he would as well.

I didn’t have any knowledge on how this was going to go, since this hadn’t happened to Inoue. This was happening to me, Hoshiko, so I couldn’t just grit my teeth and bare it, knowing I would just come out fine enough if I just kept at it. I actually had to try and I had to try hard.

There was also the matter of my own power—which Inoue also didn’t have in canon—the Sonic Scream. I hadn’t thought about it much or even tried it out since the other day. Who knows if I even still had it? If I didn’t, I’d be in trouble.

It couldn’t be some kind of fluke, since I’d done it twice and the second time I had actually thought about doing it. I just had to trust in myself; I could do this. It wasn’t that hard. It couldn’t be that hard.

“What kind of test did you have in mind, Urahara-san?” I question him.

“Ah, eager to start, huh?” Urahara taps his chin, “All in good time, Inoue-chan. I hope you’re ready, because the test begins now.”

“Bring it.” I ball my hands into fists. Urahara smiles, snapping his fingers and before I know it, Ururu and Jinta have begun to move. Shit, I shouldn’t have been so cocky.

But Inoue Hoshiko wasn’t going to back down from anything. Like I said, bring it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone needs to teach homegirl some patience. please let me know if y'all have any questions or anything


	5. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko, how could you just make up your own canon like this? It's almost like you aren't even trying.

 

I didn’t have much time to react. It seemed that I barely had time to do much of anything these days. “H-Holy  _ fuck _ !” I barely managed to dodge out of the way as Jinta swings his bat at me. I fall back, landing hard on my butt and grunting, looking over at Urahara who doesn’t look the least bit bothered.

“Oh, Inoue-chan, that was quick!” He applauds. I glare over at him and he doesn’t seem to care. He then holds up a hand, “If you can survive five minutes without getting hit or giving up, I’ll let you be one of my students—alternatively, if you can manage to knock down either Jinta or Ururu, the test is over and you’ll be one of my students.”

It seemed easy enough… in theory. It also sounded similar to Ichigo’s training with Ururu, if I remembered correctly. I didn’t have much time to think about the similarities and differences of our two trainings and instead, I dodged another hit. These kids really weren’t holding back the punches, huh? Were they always this ruthless?

If I could summon my scream, I could probably disorient the two of them and just push them over, “Ah,” He says as if he’d actually forgotten, a finger in the air. “I don’t want you using that scream of yours, though.” Ururu punches the ground and it shakes, making me fall onto my butt. Was he really expecting me to be able to do anything? I was still a mere human with slightly heightened spirit abilities! Abilities that I couldn’t even use yet.

I huffed. “Isn’t that scream the whole point of—whoa!” I roll out of the way of Ururu’s overhead punch, scrambling to stand up and run away from her. “You couldn’t even give me time to change! I’m getting my uniform dirty!” My uniform was going to be a literal mess once I finished dealing with this, I knew it.

“In battle, your enemy won’t wait for you to do a costume change, Inoue-chan!” Kisuke called as I ran away from Ururu and Jinta. The two didn’t seem like they wanted to play around at all, coming at me with their full force. I screamed, barely managing to dodge out of the way once more. “The five minutes begins now!”

This whole thing seemed like it was going to be pretty one-sided now that my one power was taken out of the equation. If I had it, I could’ve possibly stood a chance, at least for a minute or two even though I was unsure if it'd work. 

“What’s the point of me doing this?!” I scream out. I couldn’t go on the offensive, I had nothing to be offensive with. In essence, I was just a teenage girl who could see ghosts. It wasn’t like I had super speed or strength. 

And in my opinion, I had an unreliable power. Who knows if that thing was a fluke or not? Maybe it just showed up cause I was in trouble, even more so than with Sora. After all, that whole thing with Jinta was unplanned. I didn’t even think I’d be involved in something other than my next moment in canon, and yet here I was, tangling myself in with the Urahara shop workers all because I kept following a boy. 

What was strange was that Urahara didn’t question me on  _ why _ I was following Jinta in the first place. And it wasn’t like I could claim we had just been walking the same way, because I had pointedly followed him, anybody could’ve been able to see that. Plus, if I was Urahara, I’d believe Jinta over myself, since he’s known Jinta longer than he’d known me. I was just some odd girl off the street and obviously not in my right mind for agreeing to come back to some strange place.

That’s probably why he wanted me around. He might think that I know more than I’m pretending to know—and his assumption would be right. He’d want to watch me while I’m useless and somehow cultivate me so that I wouldn’t betray him or so he’d know how to stop me if I ever ‘joined the other side’. It made sense, which is why I so easily went along with his whims. Also, his looks didn’t hurt me being more susceptible to agreeing with him.

I trip, flipping and flopping until my back meets a rock. The world is upside down and pushing off of the rock with my feet allows me to just barely dodge Jinta’s bat smashing into the rock and tearing it apart. I don’t even have much of a second to think that that could’ve been me. I roll out of the way of Ururu’s punches and get up, wobbling away from them. I wanted to go offensive, I did, really and truly, but there was no way I could unless I somehow managed to get Jinta’s bat away from him.

And that, in itself, was hard to do when it seemed like Jinta and Ururu were attacking from the same side. If there was a way to get them to attack from two opposite sides, I could potentially get them to knock each other out, and even if that didn’t work, Ururu hitting Jinta could make him drop his bat and I could pick it up, since it didn’t even weigh a lot at all and hit one of them. Jinta would be the easier of the two since Ururu was basically a tank.

I look behind me, noting that Jinta is there but Ururu? The girl was quick, she only appeared a few moments after Jinta’s initial strike. It was clear he was the weaker of the two and would act as the distraction while Ururu went in for the kill. Now that I thought about it, I’m sure they weren’t expecting me to try to come after them, since I’d only been running away and getting snagged and bruised by the landscape.

If I turned around now and went after Jinta, that would surprise them. I slowed my pace down, not entirely because I knew if I stopped moving then I would feel all of the exhaustion that had built up while I was running around and moving. “Heh, you’re just makin’ it easier for us, huh?” Jinta snarks, jumping and raising the bat over his head.

I quickly turn and do what none of them had been expecting, I’m sure. Hell, even  _ I  _ hadn’t been expecting it and  _ I  _ was the one who did it. “ _ Ow! _ Fuck! You stupid…. Ugh!” Jinta groaned, immediately dropping, hands instantly clutching between his legs. 

So, I may have…  _ overestimated _ my reach. Jinta wasn’t that tall and I wasn’t much taller than he was. Plus, he hadn’t been doing anything like a super jump. It was more of an… above average jump. He jumped just slightly over my height and in my attempt to grab him—I didn’t have much of a plan, lemme tell you. The grab is as far as I got, I didn’t know what I was gonna do once I grabbed him, though. 

So, when I jumped, my head slammed straight into his groin and he dropped like a fly. The bat clattered to the ground near him and I picked it up, bringing it over my head to slam into him, only to accidentally—though totally grateful for it—slam the bat into Ururu who had appeared right above him in an attempt to punch me. The bat slammed into her back and she landed on top of Jinta. Urahara spits out the tea he’d been drinking as I look over at him. 

“S-So, this was your challenge?” I say cockily and drop the bat onto the ground like I hadn’t been screaming for my life only half a minute or so ago. “I-I’m really sorry, you two. Are you alright?”

I immediately go into apologizing, though Ururu gets up much sooner than Jinta and doesn’t seem to mind at all. She looks happy, sitting next to Jinta, if anything, though I’m still checking her over for injuries and any signs of pain. That bat probably hits pretty hard.

“Wow Inoue-chan.” Kisuke stands up from the chair I hadn’t seen him get, “Seems like you have some  _ really _ good luck.” He approaches, looking down at Jinta, “Walk it off, you two.” Ururu gets up almost immediately, smiling up at me.

“You did well, Inoue-san. Even though you were running around screaming for nearly four minutes.” Ururu commented, “I thought we almost had you.”

“Ha-ha… no way! I had a plan. I wasn’t gonna give up that easily!” I lie. Sure, I had a plan, but it was most obviously one I didn’t think I was going to be able to execute. Maybe I was better at this stuff than I thought. Immediately I dropped, my legs not being able to carry me anymore. “Okay, so maybe that was a little harder than… yeah, that was a lot harder. I’m still really sorry, though. I didn’t mean to hit you like that, Jinta. You too, Ururu.”

The boy only grunts, scooting away from me as he keeps his hands in between his thighs. I couldn’t blame him, I’m sure that hurt a lot. Probably as much as it hurt to be punched in the boob—which has happened to me more than I’d like to admit now that I’m here. Tatsuki can be  _ pretty _ mean when she wants to, surprisingly.

“You did do really well, Inoue-chan.” Kisuke patted my head. I looked up at him tiredly. “I’m sure this was a lot for you to go through.” He pulls me up easily, though I wobble slightly. “We’ll get Tessai to patch you up a bit and then we’ll talk.”

Tessai-san was a large man, much large than I’d thought he’d be. He easily towered over everyone in the room when he entered the small room that it looked like Kisuke received guests in. He bowed to Kisuke before looking to me and bowing at me as well. As I was sitting, I only bowed my head in greeting. “Inoue-chan, this is Tsukabishi Tessai, a dear friend of mine.”

“Hello, Tsukabishi-san.” I greeted him with a small smile.

“While Tessai heals you up a bit, we should probably have a dialogue, don’t you think?” Kisuke sips at his tea. I nod as Tessai quietly begins his work.

Technically, I did pass his test. He only said that I needed to outrun them  _ OR _ beat them. I didn’t have to do both, and I managed, though through some sort of fluke by… well, hitting a ten-year-old in the nuts, but I still passed nonetheless! I did what he asked! So, if he didn’t keep me on as his student then he was just a big liar.

“So, you passed.” Kisuke begins, “I mean… in an… unconventional way, yes, but you passed nonetheless.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “Since you’re still somewhat of a normal human, your training might be a little harsher—though it’ll be a lot more different than that test. I wouldn’t normally just let any human in here and offer to help train them, you know.”

I did know. And while Kisuke did tell me some of his reasoning, I still really couldn’t figure out why he’d agreed to let me come here and offer to be my teacher. It was odd, and I knew that I couldn’t pass this up. If he was willing to teach me, I had to let him. After all, maybe he could teach me something like Kidou or how to fight or something like that. “Well obviously.” I scoff, “I mean, most people don’t know these ghosts and shit exist. I must be really promising if you’re willing to train me and stuff.”

“You’re interesting, to say the least.” Urahara responds cryptically. 

The thing about Urahara that I’ve come to know every time he speaks to me is that he always talks as if he knows more than you do—and in most cases, he does—but in this case, him knowing more than me would be dangerous. If he knew about who I was— _ what _ I was, then he was much more knowledgeable than I thought. But the question was, would he reveal this knowledge in front of his subordinates or wait until we were alone?

Tessai finished up rather quickly and despite how much energy I’d burned, I still felt somewhat better with all of my cuts closed up. “This training you’re talking about, is it only for working out that scream or what?”

“Well, it’s more working on your physical stamina as well as your reiatsu—er, spiritual power.” He said by way of explanation. “I have plans for you, Inoue-chan. I need all of you to be in your best shape.” His words, once again, were cryptic and it only made me think that he meant to use me for other things. The only thing that really came to mind at this point was Ichigo and Rukia. Was he planning on making me work with them? But he didn’t know anything about my coming power, all he knew was about my screaming ability.

Unless… Urahara was somehow like  _ me _ . Knocked from his original body and into this one. That would explain a lot, but then again… this person would have to be as strong as him and just as smart to be able to do what Urahara was capable of in the canon. I couldn’t think of anything else that would fit why he would want to use me. This seemed the most logical, but I couldn’t ask him now, not while they were in the room. He’d think me crazy if I asked him so soon too.

“So, whatever training you’re going to put me through is going to up my physical stamina and… this… reiatsu stuff.” To be honest, I’d forgotten the word anyway, so it wasn’t hard to act like the word was new to me. Kisuke nods and I turn over the words in my head. “Okay, is that all?”

“Obviously it’s not, Inoue-chan. It can’t be.” Kisuke says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean, sure, I can teach you all there is to know about reiatsu and keep you in good shape, but really, you need to know about what you’re gonna be fighting.”

“Those monster things. Like the giant spider.” I say, tapping my finger on the table, “You think I’m gonna fight one of those?”

Kisuke laughs, “Oh, I don’t just think. I  _ know _ . I  _ expect _ you to. What’s a power if you don’t use it? Especially if I’m going to be training you to use it? Of course, that won’t be all you’re doing. In exchange for me helping you train, you’ll be taking up shifts here in the shop. I need a cashier—someone cute. I hate to say it, but Tessai, you scare them all away.” I can’t really read Tessai’s expression, but he doesn’t look offended, but then again, I could be wrong. I know I’d be offended—hell, might even hold a grudge and be petty about it later.

“We don’t need her, I can run the cash register.” Jinta speaks up, glaring at me. It was obvious he was still upset by me hitting him.

“Mmmm, yeah, but you can’t reach it without a stepping stool.” Urahara points out lazily, making Jinta sputtered, embarrassed as I giggle. “So, it’ll have to be Inoue-chan.”

“I can do that.” I tell him, “I’m sure it’s easy enough.” Urahara claps his hands, I’m sure he’s happy that I’m so compliant with his wishes. He was offering to teach me, after all, I didn’t have much of a right to be picky with what he wanted from me, in my opinion.

“Tch, you only won cause of a fluke. Next time you won’t win again.” Jinta declared, pointing at me. 

Urahara waved his fan, blowing out air lazily. “You redheads are always so fiery. And loud.” 

“Hey!” Both Jinta and I yelp, glaring at Urahara who holds up his hands in mock-surrender. “I’m much better than him/her! No, you aren’t!”

“Wow, I never thought we’d find someone similar to Jinta-kun.” Tessai speaks up for the first time. His voice is much deeper than I’d anticipated, though it’s warm and for some reason it makes me think it’s what Santa Clause would sound like if he was real.

“I’m nothing like him/her!” The two of us shout once more. I turn to glare at Jinta, sticking my tongue out as he goes to flip me off. We both look away, huffing as we do. This boy was going to get on my nerves, I just know it.

“Okay, as much as I  _ love _ the comedy act, we should get back on track.” Kisuke is quick to steer the conversation back. “Inoue-chan, tomorrow you’ll come back here and we’ll get you situated with your duties. As for now…” He places a wristband onto the table. It looks oddly enough like a Fitbit—not one of the newer ones, but the original one with only the three lights on it.

“What kind of watch is this? It doesn’t even tell time?” I pick it up, inspecting the wristband onto for it to prick me. “Ow! What kind of watch is this?” I drop the band right as it pricks me and it seems to change, morphing into a thinner wristband, silver in color.

“It’s just to keep track of you.” Kisuke says innocently. Now I only have known him from the manga and from these two days, but it wasn’t that hard for me to tell that he was trying to be sweet and innocent and it wasn’t going to work on Inoue Hoshiko.

“Then why did it prick me?” I question, picking it up and looking it over. It feels similar to a hair tie now that it’s smaller and thinner, but there now only one blinking light. Kisuke gestures for me to put it on and I do so, feeling as if it’s constricting me. “Wh…What’s going on…?”

“It’s adjusting to you. Give it a minute, you’ll be fine.” Kisuke waves away the panic I’m most obviously exhibiting. I’d never seen this thing in canon. Neither Ururu nor Jinta wore it, so I don’t know what this is. “Ururu and Jinta had to wear one at first too.”

“Inoue-san, it helps regulate your reiatsu so that you can perform more spiritual attacks.” Ururu speaks up, “Makes it so that you can actually use your reiatsu instead of just letting it be.” I could feel my breath finally returning much easier than before. I breathe in and out a couple of times to finally bring my heart rate to a normal pace.

“Fine, I’ll wear it.” I try to lift the band. It barely comes off my skin. “Though it doesn’t look like I have much of a choice…”

“It’ll come off when it’s ready to.” Urahara informs me, “Ah, how fun! Another student! It’s been so long, right you guys? A new face will do us all good.” There’s mixed reactions from all of them. Tessai’s expression, I can’t readily read, but Ururu seems to agree while Jinta scoffs, looking away. At least it seemed like two people were excited for me to start coming around more often.

“So, I’m coming back tomorrow?” I question, since it seems like we’re mostly done for right now.

Urahara nods, “And make sure you wear something other than your school uniform.” He gestures to my ripped blazer and shirt. I frown, only having noticed it right now. It was ripped in a lot of places, rendering it pretty much irreparable. I sigh, knowing my aunt wouldn’t like me needing another blazer and uniform shirt.

“Ah, can I use the bathroom? I brought clothes to change, but we started so suddenly…” I told him, moving to grab my bag. Tessai told me where the bathroom was and I excused myself, quickly changing into the track suit and returning to the room only to be stopped in the hallway by Kisuke.

He motions me to follow him and I do so, following him to the front of the store. “You did well today, Inoue-chan.” He begins, watching me put on my sneakers. “I didn’t think you’d show up, but I’m glad you did.”

“I knew you didn’t think I would, so I had to show up.” I stood, tapping my shoe against the floor and looking up at him. “I look forward to learning from you, Urahara-san.”

“It’ll be a fun time, Inoue-chan!” Kisuke ruffles my hair. I was getting tired of him doing that—he was just messing up the precarious hairstyle I’d chosen. Ponytails were hard to part and make!

“You can just call me Hoshiko.” I tell him. I wasn’t a fan of this last name stuff. And besides, calling me ‘Inoue’ just made me feel like I was… stealing still. Even though I’d made my peace with that and resolved to just continue on, I still felt bad every time someone called me Inoue or I had to use the last name. It didn’t feel like it belonged to me. The only thing that did was the first name, as I’m sure it wasn’t hers.

“Right… Hoshiko-chan.” Kisuke says, “Well, my dear, I will see you tomorrow after school for your first official training day.”

“I’ll be here.” I nod resolutely, “Well, see you.” I wave as I exit the store.

So, not really going against canon, but adding in my  _ own _ bits, I’m suddenly the new student of Urahara Kisuke for reasons mostly unknown to me. I can only speculate what he could possibly want from me and who knows? Maybe I’m completely wrong with what I’m guessing on. Kisuke was an enigma. Nobody really knew what went on in the genius’ mind aside from him. Maybe he was just feeling nice or just wanted to do this on a whim. Maybe I was a pet project because things were moving much too slow for him too.

Either way, I didn’t mind. Urahara was one of my favorite characters, so spending time with him—and maybe Yoruichi later on wasn’t exactly  _ awful _ . And he was teaching me—maybe I’d learn to actually fight as well. Plus, he might even teach me about hollows and stuff, so I could flaunt my knowledge without it being suspicious.

This worked out better than I thought. I could get away with being smart by claiming that everything I knew was what Urahara had taught me. As I walked home, I could only wonder what Urahara had in store for me. I glanced at the wristband, frowning at it. Was it really there to watch me or to help regulate reiatsu? If it helped me regulate reiatsu, I could call upon my reiatsu and maybe make it visible and mold it—sort of like chakra or something. 

Out of all the fictional power sources that came from within, I think that reiatsu is the most complex, seeing as it’s the least explained—well, to me at least. Chakra is said to be in every living thing, but reiatsu? I’m unsure, considering you didn’t really need reiatsu for anything when you were a normal human. As far as I’m concerned, the extent of a normal human getting ‘spiritual powers’ just resulted in the manifestation of their spiritual sight—meaning they would be able to see ghosts and that was about it.

And in Karakura, that was a lot more likely because it was such a spiritual hotbed—dense with spiritual energy and not just from the inhabitants, just from where it was, so seeing ghosts or hearing things slightly wasn’t too much of a problem here.

This, however, was different. I’m guessing since birth I’ve probably had the potential to do more with my coming spiritual powers. There was no way they just… developed out of nowhere. There had to be a base and I wasn’t taking that ‘Ichigo awakened your powers by prolonged contact’ mess of an explanation, because, let’s face it, that didn’t make any sense. 

For one, I’m not even friends with Ichigo like that, and looking back into my memories tells me that up till now, me asking Ichigo about my drawing was pretty much the first time I’ve ever spoken to him directly—I don’t count the Kon thing because I didn’t even talk to him and I don’t count the whole thing with Sora either, because Rukia was there too. And me giving him the cookies was the first time we were alone and spoke for more than a quick exchange, so there was no way he had anything to do with  _ my _ power development.

My hollow encounters had to deal with that. Meeting Sora probably awakened the dormant powers I had and my second hollow encounter with Jinta had tried to put them to use. Though what really made me wonder was the power I was going to receive from the hair pins. I reached up to touch them, noting that they were still embedded into my ponytails. They’d yet to react to anything I’d done and that made me wonder—was this scream the end of my power trip? 

Was I not getting Inoue’s canon powers because I was no longer her? I mean… it’d make sense, but my job was as the healer, so I needed something. Sure, Tessai and Kisuke could potentially teach me Kidou, but would it work? I wasn’t a Shinigami as far as I was concerned—I wasn’t even sure  _ what _ I was. Also, I wasn’t sure if Inoue’s powers even relied on reiatsu. It seemed like it was just willpower, as she could be dangerously hurt and still have enough to heal someone.

Even with my messing with canon, I should still receive a power from the hairpins, it was the only logical step. I still had some time, I think, until I went up against the hollow who hurts Tatsuki and the others at school, so I had time to prepare and with Urahara on my side much earlier than anticipated, this could work out in my favor. 

* * *

Kisuke, as I had said before, was an enigma. He was a weird man who seemed to only do things for shits and giggles and on a whim. So, when I’d arrived after school the next day, he was prancing around, happy to see me while Ururu and Jinta swept up outside. I’d taken care to show up in my track suit so that I didn’t ruin my uniform and he led me down into the basement. The room still hadn’t lost its aweing effect on me as I looked it over once again, taking in all the details. The room really was incredible, I won’t lie.

“Ah, Hoshiko-chan.” Kisuke seemed easily taken with calling me by my first name. “It’s so nice to have such a fresh new face around here.”

“Most would think your way of speaking is reminiscent of a pervert.” I comment, arms behind my back as I walk closer to him, “And I can see why.”

“Ahaha, so harsh, you are.” Kisuke turns to me. “Let’s see that scream of yours—or hear? Hear, yes.”

I freeze, not at all having seen him putting me on the spot coming. I should’ve known, considering he’d tested my physical endurance—and my smarts (kind of)—yesterday. It was only obvious that he made sure I had reiatsu and could even perform my sonic scream. I wasn’t out here trying to be the next Boy Wonder.

“Okay…” I quietly respond, stepping away from him. Urahara seems prepared, giving me a thumbs-up as if to reassure me. I screwed my eyes shut, willing myself to push the sound out of my throat. How did this work exactly? Did it have to be a scream or could I just say anything and turn it into a sonic scream?

There were so many questions buzzing through my mind that I wasn’t prepared for Kisuke coming up behind me. The moment his hand had touched my shoulder, I whipped around, screaming. The scream echoed and knocked him away from me. Though I could see the surprise on his face in that split second, it was quickly wiped away as he flipped back and away from the stream of distorted air that showed the trajectory of my scream’s path. The scream echoed, dying out before it reached anything it could effectively break.

“Ah, Hoshiko-chan! That was a great scream!” He said, taking precautions as he came over to me. “It’s much… louder than I anticipated but very great!” While I’m sure Kisuke was, in some way, impressed, I knew that I was. I didn’t think I could do it. This wasn’t something I ever thought I could do, and yet, here I was.

I breathe out, trying it again and… surprisingly, it works. I didn’t think I’d be able to get it to work again. “Okay, enough of the screaming. Now that we know it wasn’t just a one-time thing, we’ve got other things to work on.” Kisuke claps his hands. So he had been thinking something along the lines of what I’d been thinking. It only made sense. I guess if the scream happened to be a one-time thing, he probably would’ve erased my memory and just let me lose to go back to my regular life, only for me to re-meet him again when it was time to get Rukia. He then points along the edge of the room. “I want you to run the length of the room twice.”

“What?!” I nearly shout, looking at him incredulously. He doesn’t seem at all bothered by this and nods. “You’re kidding.”

“Oh, no, I’m not.” He answers, “You wanted training yes? Well, you’ll have to do as I say, Hoshiko-chan.”

“C’mon, we all know my stamina is probably pretty shit.” I tell him, gesturing to my body, “We’ve both seen it--you’ve seen more than I wanted you to from yesterday’s test. I’m thicker than a snicker.” Urahara laughs at my joke, “And... I mean, I get winded going up two flights of stairs. I gotta stop and take a breather sometimes and think about my life choices. I’m honestly not in shape.” 

“I know,” He replies. I scoff, he didn’t have to say it like that, “And this will help you get in shape. How are you going to go out in the field with Ururu and Jinta if you can’t at least run the length of the room twice without getting winded? You’ll get caught by a hollow and torn apart, scream or no scream. And that’s something we’re trying to avoid. Hence, the training.”

“Ugh...” He was right. If I was planning on trying to keep my own and help everyone out, I couldn’t just spend my days lazing about and doing whatever. I needed to put in the work in order to do better. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to complain. 

“Make sure you stretch first, Hoshiko-chan.” He sang, tapping a finger against his face. I whined, going through the basic stretches that we did during gym class before breaking into a jog with Urahara watching me.

This was going to be a long, long training session.

As it turns out, I was completely right. This was a very long training session, only because Urahara was something akin to a slave driver. Ururu had said she and Jinta had gone through similar training and it got easier and harder at the same time. The only way to reach that point was to stick with it. I’d already told myself I wasn’t going to give up and that wasn’t even an option considering canon events would be coming up for me soon enough and that meant a lot more Urahara and the shop gang.

It’d be hella awkward if I just up and quit and two weeks later he was the one we turned to in order to help us get Rukia back. So, I had to stick it out. Today’s training session consisted of me being told I wasn’t running the right way, followed by two more laps around the training room and before I could collapse on the ground out of exhaustion, I was moved on to doing something else. And that something else was being repeatedly smacked down onto the ground by Ururu while Urahara tried to find the perfect fighting style to gift me.

Ururu wasn’t hitting me  _ hard _ , but it was repeatedly and in one of three places, so by the time our ‘sparring match’ was over, I was bruised on my arms—from blocking her punches and on my stomach from when I couldn’t block the hits with my arms. Though she apologized profusely, I didn’t hold it against her, just against Urahara, who’d suggested finding my own fighting style and knowing my stupid ass, I’d jumped at the chance. I shouldn’t have, because this is what I would most likely get.

Aside from that, I didn’t do much else on this first day and I was thankful. Despite Tessai healing me before I left for the day, the ghost pains of where I’d been hit were still there, making my arms throb profusely. I could barely keep my bag on my shoulder it hurt so much.

“Tomorrow,” Urahara told me at the door, “I’ll teach you how to work the cash register and run the shop. And the day after, you’ll train. Every odd day you train and every even day, you work.” I nodded along with his words and left, loudly saying goodbye to everyone as I did so.

My walk home was slow, as I was still really sore from all that I’d done. I didn’t think about why Urahara did this—I’d resolved yesterday to just let things happen as they do, there was no reason to worry myself into a headache trying to be one step ahead of the man who had fourteen backup plans to his pre-plan. There was no reason for it. I’d just take things as they came and deal with them like that.

* * *

Running the front end of the shop was pretty easy and… pretty boring. I don’t know what Tessai did all day, but Urahara explained (using that word very, very lightly) that Tessai spent a lot of time outside the shop, so that left him to run the shop all by himself. Of course, I’m sure Urahara didn’t do a lot of running of the shop since he was always just lazing around every time he was in the show, but he was willing to pay and I was willing to work, so it didn’t matter to me none.

I could tell Urahara was surprised at how easily I picked up working the register. In my past life—that’s what I’d taken to calling it—I’d had a couple of jobs as a cashier, so I wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with the concept. I’m glad that he just deemed it as me being quick on the uptake and left me to sit around and do nothing for a good portion of the afternoon. Not many people came into this shop, I’d noted, which made me wonder how he stayed afloat with rent and such things.

“This is one of the slower days.” Ururu said as she came in from sweeping outside. She was a sweet girl—even though I’d only officially known her for about three days. Jinta was still a damn brat, let me tell you, but it was all pretty easy to deal with.

“Everyday is one of the slower days...” Jinta followed her into the shop.

“You should bring something for you to do most days, Hoshiko-san.” Ururu told me as she came up to the counter, “Usually it’s busy after school some days but not everyday.” I was already thinking of bringing something the next time I had to come into work since it seemed like this was going to happen often.

The days following all passed rather similarly, every other day I was getting my ass beat by Ururu and on occasion Jinta, but mostly Ururu because somebody had to do the chores with Tessai-san and more often than not it was Jinta because he needed to learn discipline and apparently, he was better at cleaning than Ururu was anyway, which was surprising considering how reckless he could be on the regular, but the boy was very thorough when he cleaned.

What was odd to me was that I hadn’t run into Rukia yet, but I did often see Ichigo’s younger sister, whom Jinta always told to go shop somewhere else. She claimed that the prices here were much better than anywhere she’d shopped, and so she kept coming back for me. I didn’t blame her, she had four people to feed, she couldn’t afford to go to other stores for stuff she could get here, whereas I could, since it was only me and occasionally Tatsuki eating at my house.

In addition to the days where I had training, Urahara would drill me on the different types of hollow that I would face and packed the information into me just as hard as Ururu’s fist. He was really expecting me to know this stuff. We went through hollow types for two days and on the third, I was subjected to a sort of ‘test’. 

“What’s a Demi-Hollow?” Urahara asked, pacing in front of me. I was standing there, holding a wooden plank high above my head. It wasn’t heavy, as the plank had nothing on it, nothing but spiritual pressure, that is. Everytime I got a question wrong, Urahara (I dunno how he did it) would add more spiritual pressure towards it. So far, I’d gotten every question right, and there was only the base amount of pressure, which was easy to hold up. But my arms were getting tired. “C’mon, be quick Hoshiko-chan.”

I racked my brain. I knew this one, I did. “I... a half-a hollow?” I suggested, tilting my head. Urahara tapped the plank with his cane and I bent slightly, before recovering. 

“I want an actual definition, Hoshiko-chan, not you being smart and repeating it back to me a different way.” Urahara commented. “Answer in ten seconds or I’ll add more pressure.” 

“Okay! Jeez, um...” I stick my tongue out in thought, “Oh! It’s a hollow that... um, they’re... not fully formed?” Urahara raises his cane once again, “Wait, wait! I mean, like they don’t have a mask yet, and the hollow hole ain’t fully formed yet?”

“Are you asking or telling?” Urahara fixes me with a gaze.

“I’m... telling.” I close my eyes, waiting for more pressure, but it doesn’t come. When I open my eyes, Urahara is taking the plank away from me and my arms drop. “Oh, whew! That hurts, you know?”

“That’s the point, my dear Hoshiko-chan.” Urahara ruffles my hair. “Well, that’s today’s test. You should run some laps again.”

“ _ Again _ ?” I repeat, frowning, “I passed the test, let me go! And when are you gonna tell me about a fighting style?” Urahara had been playing around the idea since I started, but he hadn’t said much despite my pestering. 

“Maybe I’ll tell you about it if you run those laps.” He pats my ide, “Cmon, go now. Run off that pain.” He shoos me away with his cane and I frown, breaking into a run. I hate him so, so much.

* * *

It was somewhere when I’d been there for about two or three weeks or something that Urahara finally told me what he’d thought of for my fighting style. I knew he had been in the talks thinking about it, arbitrarily asking me questions about what I wanted to accomplish with a fighting style and things like that, since I pestered him about it a while back, but it didn’t seem like it was going to go further than that. So, I just started assuming I’d start to pick up whatever Ururu knew and that was pretty much punching and kicking with reckless abandon all because she had super strength.

Ururu and I were standing in front of him in the training room after I’d finished those stupid laps. I hated to admit it, but I was getting better at running them. I was only getting winded around the end of my first lap/beginning of my second lap now as opposed to when I was getting winded and tired around the beginning of my first lap—I won’t lie, I wasn’t in shape at all before I began this—which was hard to wrap my head around, since I could blow through a dance routine and only be slightly tired when I finished. I guess this was different. But I was proud of what I was doing, especially since I was thrust into it so quickly.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Urahara looked so pleased with himself, waving his fan around as he watched us. “…So, you gonna tell me or you just gonna stand there?” I finally broke the silence. I wasn’t impatient—well, maybe a little bit, because if he wasn’t going to tell us, then I’d rather get back to getting my ass kicked by Ururu. I was starting to get used to the beatings, if that didn’t sound as awful as it did.

“Right, right.” Urahara snaps his fan closed. “I call it… The  _ Seiru Style _ .” He revealed with a big flourish, unraveling the crudely made banner. Ururu and I glance at each other, similar deadpan expressions on our faces as we turn back to look at him. “You… you don’t like it? It took me, like, a week to come up with the name alone! And to paint this! These stars were hard to draw, you know!”

“A week? You mean…” I start, glaring at him, “I could’ve been learning this a week ago, but you waited  _ because you couldn’t come up with a name _ ?”

“…Well, when you say it like that…” He lifts up his hat, scratching at his blonde hair, “But it’s fine, right? It’s not like you’re out there fighting hollows or something right now anyway, Hoshiko-chan.”

“I guess so...” While that was true, it still didn’t mean I wanted to be out here waiting a ridiculously long amount of time to start training to actually fight instead of blocking and dodging and running. I wanted to be able to  _ do  _ something like disarm an enemy or punch someone in the face and not have it hurt for me! “I guess you’re right,” I finally admit, looking back to him, “So then, the  _ Seiru _ , what is it?”

“To put it simply,” Urahara begins, “It’s basically a form of hybrid kick boxing.” I raise an eyebrow. Hybrid kick-boxing? What did that even mean? What was it mixed with? I’m guessing I looked rather confused by what he said, because Urahara cleared his throat. It was clear he was trying to find the easiest way to elaborate without giving everything away. “You’re small.” He began slowly, as if testing the air for what to say next, “So I chose a style that would help you because you’re small. It’s fast and quick. Doesn’t rely on a lot of strength either.”

I turned his vague explanation over in my head. Yeah, anything like that would probably be the best for me, considering I didn’t have the super strength Ururu had—and I don’t think I ever would. I was still closer to a normal human than the rest of the Karakura gang, so I guess I needed something that would make my weakness—being human—not so glaringly obvious. Anything that could cover my weak points would be best.

“…I see…” I quietly say after a few seconds of debating it. “Well, I won’t know what it’s like until you start showing me, so how about we get to it?”

“I knew you’d say that, Hoshiko-chan.” Urahara said, clapping his hands. “Okay, Ururu, you can go back upstairs. I’ll handle it from here.” Ururu nods and begins going back upstairs. We watch her go until she’s high up and I turn back to Urahara. “Let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Day After 4th of July to those who live in the U.S.
> 
> Until I run out of buffer chapters, I've decided to upload every Wednesday. If you aren't a fan of it, lemme know, I might update sooner than that. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed Hoshiko doing things she's technically not supposed to. She's going to be doing a lot more of that soon.


	6. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hoshiko learns her fighting style and bonds with the Urahara Shop employees—even Jinta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's weird, to find out that all of this is taking place from around 2001-2003, according to the wiki. And that... explains a lot in terms of fashion sense. also, just do your best to ignore a time discrepancy when it comes up in one of the side stories--also, there's side stories!

The _Seiru_ style wasn’t hard to learn—well, to me at least. I dunno what it was about it, but it seemed like second nature to me, learning it. And I think that’s kind of what Urahara was after when he created it for me. Like he’d said, it was focused on being fast, and quick. Every move somehow blended seamlessly into the next like they were all one dance. The strikes were fast and focused on hitting points where, when I was finished attacking, would slow the opponent down and have them more wounded than they’d thought.

None of my hits were hard either—just hard enough for you to realize I hit you, but barely enough to leave a mark or something. Either that’s how Urahara intended it to be or that was just where my strength was at considering the opponents I was going against (two monstrous children and occasionally, a mild-mannered middle-aged looking man).

Either way, the fighting style was more about subduing your opponent and letting them tire themselves out or injure themselves, which I feel like suited both me and Inoue. It wasn’t outright hurting anyone, but it was still a fighting style and there were a couple of harder moves where I could actually injure someone, but those were few and far in-between. All in all, I did, in fact, love my fighting style.

What was even _more_ interesting about the style itself was that Urahara had developed it just for me. “You and I are the only two who know this fighting style.” He’d told me the first day I’d started learning. And that was pretty much shocking to find out.

“Y-You’re serious?” I had to ask, because let’s face it, this was pretty much groundbreaking, having someone—and Kisuke Urahara, no less—create something specifically designed for _you_. I felt like a freakin’ princess or something.

“Well... I like you enough, I guess.” Urahara chuckled, ruffling my hair, “I don’t want my newest student going out there and dying because she doesn’t have her own style of fighting.”

What he said about the _Seiru_ style being all mine was true, because when he wrote the characters for it out—because he wanted me to embroider a damn uniform for him, which I totally _didn't_ do, by the way—(星流), it roughly translated to ‘Star Flow’, using the first character of my name. And searching it online came up with nothing. Which, to be honest, I wasn’t sure why I did. It wasn’t like Urahara was from here--or he _was_ , but he hadn’t been for a long time which--wait, I was getting off topic.

“...It’s _still_ a corny name.” I complain and he just laughs, probably because he knows it’s really corny too.

Though, aside from the fighting style, I _was_ working on being able to use the scream more easily. Since before I had to muster it up with all my strength and willpower, all I had to do now was think about it and suddenly I was screaming and knocking Ururu back ten feet and disorienting her.

I think it was thanks in part to the bracelet that Urahara had given me. The bracelet did bring out my reiatsu, I’d noticed and it made me more susceptible to sensing other people’s. And the more time I spent with them, the more I learned, like how Reiatsu wasn’t the End-All Be-All. Reiatsu was just the outward expulsion of _Reiryoku_ , which is what everyone was going around sensing. But I'll get into Reiryoku later.

I knew when everyone was around and I was getting better at sensing slight changes in their Reiryoku. Urahara’s Reiryoku felt and looked like the color red, but instead of an angry red, it was a calming red, from the handful of times he had manifested it outward into Reiatsu while Jinta’s was more... white than red. Ururu’s, unsurprisingly, was purple and Tessai-san’s was kind of colorless, being an off white, sort of grayish transparent color.

Being around the group so much allowed me to sense their Reiryoku much, much easier than normal, to the point where if I couldn’t sense it, something was off.

I finished the katas, winding down and stretched to release any kinks that had built up. I grabbed my water bottle, squirting it into my mouth and on my face, wiping my face down with my towel as I came to sit near Urahara who had been watching me.

“You’re doing pretty well, huh, Hoshiko-chan.” He comments, patting my head. “It feels like you’ve been here for more than nearly a month.”

I chuckle at his comment. It does feel like a longer time than it was. Probably because I was usually here every free moment I had. It was almost crazy to think about how quickly this began and how quickly I’d gotten used to it, used to coming here and seeing these people and how they had gotten used to me. I couldn't even remember what it was like before I met them—even though my memories of this world really started on the day I crashed into Ichigo right before everything happened with Sora. That felt so long ago, but it'd only been about a month and half since then.

And here I was, learning my own fighting style. Hopefully I didn’t forget it when it was time to actually go out there and fight.

“Hoshiko-chan.” I look up at him. He seems conflicted on what he wants to ask me, which is odd. Usually Urahara can hide his emotions really well, so me being able to read it means that he’s more than distressed about whatever he has to say.

“Yeah, Urahara?” I squeeze out more water, looking at him curiously. I’d dropped calling him sensei after the first day or two. It was much easier to just call him by his name, though I had a plethora of _other_ things I could call him if I really wanted to, which I had only thought up when he made me run laps and stuff.

“…What do… your parents say about you coming here?” He finally asks after a few minutes of quiet. I was surprised by the question, more so that he didn’t know about my family life—I thought he would’ve known. Or maybe he was just being polite about it? I dunno, either way, it wasn’t like I had anything to hide. My silence prompts him to open his mouth once more, but I beat him to it.

I shrugged, “I dunno.” He quirked an eyebrow as I sighed, willing myself to explain, “It’s like… I don’t know my parents? I was raised by my brother and he… well, he manifested as one of those hollows a while back an’ tried to kill me. Oh, uh, don’t worry, he’s moved on. In a better place and all that noise.” I quickly finish upon seeing Urahara’s face. God, I needed to get this tendency to ramble under control.

But, I saw no harm in telling him, since it wasn’t like he was going to run to Rukia and tell her. And what would she be able to do about it anyway? It’s clear the memory-erasing technique doesn’t work on those with spiritual powers.

“Hmmm… are you parents gone too?” He then asks, prompting me to think he really didn’t know much about me. Maybe he didn’t bother researching, thinking he wouldn’t find anything? "Like... Sora, I mean."

“If they are, I wouldn’t know.” I tell him honestly. I don’t even care where they are, it’s not like I knew them personally. I was three at the time Sora took me away, so I barely had the time to form a relationship with them. The earliest memories I had of 'family' was Sora and he was gone now. I run my fingers through my hair, purposely pulling back my bang to allow him to see the dark scar on my forehead without making it too obvious. “Sora took me away from them when I was younger, so I never met them. My distant aunt rents my apartment out for me now.”

Urahara clicks his tongue, “I… see…” He finally says. I can’t help but wonder what he wanted with that information. It was probably nothing, just minute curiosity, though he did seem bothered by it for some reason. As I moved to ask him about why he wanted to know, he finally stood up, patting my head. “Back to your katas.”

“C’mon!” I whined, flopping onto the ground, “I’ve been doing them for nearly three hours! I think! I don't even really know because I hardly have a concept of time down here!” Urahara chuckles from above me and I can see him shake his head slightly, “Cut me some slack!”

“I am—tomorrow we aren’t meeting, remember?” He says, and I’d nearly forgotten. Tatsuki and the others wanted to go out and do something, so I’d told him I wanted to go with them—well, more like I whined and spun on the stool until it came unscrewed and I fell off. In exchange for a day off, I’d had to work extra hard today and I thought I was doing pretty well!

“Twice more and then you’re done.”

“Ugh… fine…” I sit up, glaring at him. He only smiles back, motioning me to stand up and begin.

* * *

Jinta is an _odd_ kid. Despite how he appears, apparently, he’s a good student. He gets good grades on his tests and he’s ‘a bright young mind’ in class according to the home visit I happened to be here for. I’m wondering if it has anything to do with his fear of Tessai-san. It might, considering he always whines and complains about homework, but the moment Tessai-san walks in, he’s doing his homework quietly and quickly. We all sit at the table in the backroom while Tessai-san mans the front end and Urahara looks for something in the back.

It’s one of the times where I _do_ have training but it’s being delayed by Urahara having a prior engagement of some kind, so I’ve been put to help the kids do homework while I do my own. My homework isn’t hard, since I did take Ururu’s advice and what I’d been reading was actually material I had to read for classes. Inoue didn’t have many books and with me still being as strapped for cash as I am, since I spent a lot yesterday and I still had to buy groceries for the week, I couldn’t buy any books that may have interested me.

So, that left me with reading the free material I already had. In another word, I was probably becoming the Female Uryu with all the school material I’d been reading in the last couple of weeks.

Ururu is busy doing her math homework while Jinta grumbles at his worksheet, obviously having trouble with it. I glance over, noting that it’s an English worksheet. I didn’t think they learned English so early. I thought it was just a high school elective? Were they bringing it down to the lower grades now? Or was this also an elective too? “I know English, y’know.” I tell him. He looks up, his gaze still heated from staring down the paper. “I could help you, if you want.”

“I don’t need your stupid help.” He tells me, looking back down at the paper. He continues to glare at it while Ururu finishes up her math homework, looking around before sliding it to me.

“Can you check for me, please?” She asks. I nod, picking up the paper and looking it over, thankful that I’m slightly better at math than I was before thanks to the refresher that is high school. I nod once more, sliding it back over to her. She smiles, packing it away in her bag. “How is your training going, Hoshiko-san?”

“Aw, just call me Hoshiko! No need for the formalities.” I wave them away, “But it’s going good, I think. I’m getting down the moves, so soon it won’t be too much of a secret anymore.”

“I can’t believe you lasted this long.” Jinta scoffs, looking up once more. “Sir’s tried to get other new students before, but nobody could stand up to us.”

His words stir up questions in me. Not only about the fact that Urahara had tried to get other students (which made me feel cheated that I wasn't the first extra student he'd tried to take), but the origins of the two sitting at the table with me. It was never explained before, how Urahara came to live with the two kids. Were they some form of mod soul or something? I don’t ever recall their origin story being talked about—the only thing I remember is Jinta’s crush on Yuzu.

“…How did you guys meet Urahara anyway?” I ask. Ururu looks over to Jinta who grunts, staring down at his worksheet as if he’s said too much. “Is he, like, your uncle or something?”

Jinta snorts at my question while Ururu looks as if she’s debating on telling me anything. I’d understand if she didn’t, considering I’d only been here for a couple of weeks now. “Kind of… He’s a friend of my mom’s.” Ururu finally said. “It was only ever me and my mom—so when she died, I didn’t know what to do, but then Kisuke-san came for me and now he’s my guardian.”

I hadn’t been expecting that. So Ururu was just Urahara’s charge, huh? Well, it made some sense. Maybe Ururu’s mom was an ex-Shinigami or something, or some kind of human with powers like me. That would explain why she had super strength and the like. “Could your mom see stuff like we do?” I ask her next, tapping my fingers against the table.

“I think so.” Ururu said, “If she couldn’t, then my dad could.” She didn’t elaborate more than that, so I knew she probably didn’t know who her father was, which was the case for most anime families. Why was the father figure so unreliable? Awful representation, if you asked me. I hum, looking back to my worksheet before glancing at Jinta’s.

“It says _‘Where is she going?’_ ” I tell him, tapping the paper. He slaps my hand away, scooting away from me and grumbling.

“…I knew that…” He finally says, scribbling it down in messy kanji. I shake my head. I guess it’ll take a little bit more time to get to know Jinta.

“What about you?” Ururu asks me. I turn to her, noting her expectant stare. “What about your parents, I mean. W-We already know how you met everyone.”

“Oh, I dunno about my parents.” I tell her like I told Urahara just a couple days ago. “They’re not exactly in my life.” Ururu hums lightly, taking in my words.

“Does that mean you’re lonely?” She then asks. The question, I’ll be honest, wasn’t one I was expecting. It makes me freeze for a moment and I note that Jinta has stopped pretending to write and is waiting for my answer.

“I… guess it gets a little lonely sometimes, ha-ha.” I tell her, ruffling her hair, “But I have my friends—and now you guys, so I haven’t felt lonely in a while.” Ururu smiles and Jinta returns to pretending to do his work and I swear I feel someone’s presence walk by the closed door.

* * *

Sometimes training runs really late—it tends to do that when I go to the crafts club or I end up spending time with Tatsuki before coming here or even when it falls on the weekend. Urahara is merciless and brutal. He doesn’t mind making me do my katas until I’m stiff and sore and then having me (finally) apply what I’ve learnt in spars with Ururu and then going back to katas again when I forget something or he’s feeling particularly mean. And he does it all with that lazy grin on his face. I’d have cursed him out if he wasn’t so attractive.

I, personally, feel as if I’m getting better though. I’ve even managed to almost win a couple of times against her.

I collapse onto the ground and Urahara breathes out. “I guess we end here for the day.” He finally says, which is odd, because it’s only been, like, two hours, I think. I roll over and pull myself into a sitting position.

“It’s only been two hours.” I repeat my thoughts aloud. Urahara pauses, quirking an eyebrow at me. “Why are we stopping?”

“Oh, honey.” He approaches me, squatting next to me, “It’s nearly ten o’clock.” My eyes widen as I look at him and he pulls out his phone, showing me the digital numbers.

9:48 PM stares back at me and I look up at him, silently asking if this is a joke. Urahara shakes his head and helps me up. “Ah, it’s too late now! I mean, I don’t have classes tomorrow, but still!” I mess up my hair, trying to rack my brain. Sure, I could always walk home—hell, I could even have Ururu or Jinta walk me. I didn’t want to wake Tessai-san and have him drive me back, because I’m pretty sure he’s the only one with a driver’s license in this house and he was busy all day.

I can see Urahara watching me for a moment before he pats my head once more and says, “You can stay for the night.”

And just like that, I’m spending my first night at the Urahara shop.

When we go upstairs, it’s pretty dark so the first thing I do is turn on a good portion of the lights. I see something skitter around and realize that I haven’t actually seen Yoruichi yet. Was that her? I wasn’t sure when she appeared anymore—maybe she was already here? I wasn’t sure since the days seemed to blend together, waiting for my next appearance in the canon. I wouldn’t actually meet her until way later on, which was fine to me. For now, I had Urahara teaching me and I was content with that, since it was more than what I thought I’d be getting.

Urahara walks around the house with ease, even in the dark where I hadn’t yet turned on the lights. The house is quiet and either Jinta and Ururu are asleep or running errands with Tessai-san. He was always out late, Tessai-san, and it made me wonder what exactly he was doing. Was he some kind of drug lord? I mean... they had to get the money for this place somehow, and it definitely wasn’t coming from candy sales. I chuckle at the thought as I follow Urahara into the kitchen.

“You’re thinking something weird again, aren’t you?” Urahara comments, looking back at me as he takes something out of the fridge. I sit down at the island counter in the kitchen and watch him, head in my hands.

“Hmm… what makes you say that?” I tilt my head, watching him. Urahara, for as long as I’ve been personally acquainted with him, has never cooked a damn thing. If Tessai-san was out late, he’d order something. If I was here and there was food to cook, I’d cook. Otherwise, Tessai-san cooked and Urahara… well, he mooched.

“Laughing at nothing. That look on your face. It’s pretty easy to read you, Hoshiko-chan.” Urahara puts whatever he’d pulled out of the fridge into the microwave and turns to look back at me. This was… _awkward_ , to say the least. Sure, sure I’d been alone with Urahara—he trained me in my fighting style by myself, so that guaranteed we would be alone for a good amount of hours, but we were never alone like this.

Alone with nothing to do and strangely, as awkward as it was, it was kind of… comfortable. “So, teach, how am I doin’?” I decide to ask. My perception of what I was doing may have been good, but Urahara was the teacher, so he knew better than I whether or not I was doing well.

“Ah, better than expected.” He replies shortly, “I thought you’d have given up by now.” The microwave beeps and Urahara turns towards it, opening the door and pulling out whatever was in there. “I’m proud of your progress, Hoshiko-chan.”

I don’t know if he was being serious or not, but the words did hit me pretty hard. Sure, Tatsuki always told me that I was a good kid and that I was doing a good job in classes and stuff, but she never said she was proud of me. My aunt never said that either. Whenever she called for a progress update on my classes, she would always hum and say, ‘that’s to be expected’, tell me she’s sending money and hang up. So, it was pretty nice to hear someone say they were proud of me.

“Well, gee, thanks. The praise train just don’t stop with you, huh? Makin’ me blush an’ all that.” I finally say, unsure of how to respond to him. Urahara comes over to the island counter with a large container of popcorn shrimp and sets it down. “Ooh, these look good.”

He moves towards the fridge and pulls out a bottle of ketchup, bringing it back over. I grin cheekily as I grab the ketchup the moment he puts it down and push the shrimp aside, splattering the ketchup on the side of the container. “Ha, I see you don’t like putting ketchup on the top.”

“It’s gross like that!” I make a face, “I mean, seriously, the food gets all soggy and gross. You’re supposed to dip, not lather.” Urahara laughs, picking up a shrimp and dipping it in the ketchup.

“I feel the same way.” He admits, grabbing another shrimp. “You know, Hoshiko…” I look up at him, curious, “Things… things are going to start heating up from here on out, you know?”

“What, you mean like you’re gonna let me go fight a hollow?” I snort. Of course, _I_ knew things were going to start heating up—but I couldn’t let him know that. Urahara eyes me for a moment before he shakes his head.

“I mean… some things are going to start happening and…” He pauses, as if choosing his words carefully. I can only wait and eat the shrimp as he thinks. “…are you sure you want to be caught up in it?”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘things heating up’, but what I do know is that if I didn’t want to be caught up in anything, I wouldn’t be here, eating popcorn shrimp with you.” I chuckle, “Y’know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re worried about me.”

“Well, good thing you know better.” He ruffles my hair. “I’ll pull out the extra futon when we’re done eating. You’re gonna sleep in Ururu and Jinta’s room.”

With that, we finished eating in near silence. Was Urahara really worried about me? I guess when you’re around a person for so long, you start to care about them. Was he still suspicious of me? That was another question. Before, he’d said I was ‘interesting’ but he never elaborated on how interesting I was or why, instead he offered to train me and like a fool, I’d agreed. I didn’t dare ask him if he was still suspicious of me, mostly because that sounded like a suspicious ass question. I’d just have to wait and see.

And this whole thing also begs the question—what did he know? It was clear he didn’t know as much as I did, but he knew something. Maybe he had connections to the soul society—much more than originally thought. Maybe he knew something was up with them. Were the Central 46 already killed? No, that didn’t make sense. They couldn’t have died yet. But maybe… I didn’t try to wrap my brain around that. I was forgetting details already the longer I stayed here.

I followed Urahara into Jinta and Ururu’s room. Even in the dark, one could tell that the room was a mish-mash of the two’s personalities. Ururu’s side, despite all things, was kind of messy and had a few things one would consider ‘girly’ on it while Jinta’s was nice and neat, with posters and figures lined on his desk and wall as well as his books neatly stacked on his desk. Jinta was spread out on his futon while Ururu was neatly confined to herself, though it looked like it was more like she was suppressed in the futon than just there of her own free will.

“She sleepwalks and breaks things.” Urahara commented quietly as he laid the futon down in the middle. I hum quietly in acknowledgement of his statement, vaguely recalling that to be true, but I only thought it happened when there was a threat around.

I climb into the futon, untying my hair and letting it fall limply against my shoulders and back, putting the hair ties on my wrist. Since I’m not at my house, I have to be careful where I put my hair pins and eventually settle for putting them under my pillow and pulling the blanket up. I then watch Urahara as he checks on Jinta and Ururu with a care I didn’t know he had. He’s lowkey like a dad, I've come to find out. Finally, he turns to me and smiles slightly, bending down to ruffle my hair once more. “G’night, Hoshiko-chan.” He coos at me before leaving the room.

Exhaustion hits me like a ton of bricks. I’d wanted to think about a few things, but there was clearly no time to do that. The moment I turned and shifted to get comfortable, I could feel my eyelids getting heavy and that was it for me.

* * *

When I finally wake up again, it’s to the loud whispering of someone nearby. I grunt, wiping my eyes as whoever is speaking gasps and I hear them move back. I spring up, snorting as I throw my hands out, ready to attack. I shift so that I’m facing whoever was whispering and my half-lidded eyes see Tessai-san standing there with Urahara. I look around, noting that Ururu isn’t at all in the room and Jinta is clinging to my waist.

Urahara smiles brightly and my eyes focus on the camera in Tessai-san’s hands. “…What?” I mumble out intelligently, looking between the two.

“Aw, Hoshiko-chan.” Urahara claps, his voice quieter than normal, “You two look like you could be siblings.” I can feel my face drop into a look of disgust. I didn’t want Jinta to be my sibling—I’d prefer Ururu since she seemed easier to deal with. Jinta snorts himself awake, sitting up and immediately pushing away from me.

“W-Why are you here?” He finally says, “What the hell is goin’ on?”

“Relax, Jinta.” Urahara says to him. Jinta looks over at Urahara as the man moves to explain. “Training ran late so Hoshiko-chan stayed the night.”

Jinta grunts, standing up and leaving the room. Urahara shrugs while Tessai-san moves to follow Jinta out. “C’mon, we’re about to have breakfast.”

Turns out that we aren’t about to have breakfast. Tessai-san hasn’t even started cooking when I enter the kitchen after my morning shower in new, fresh clothes that probably belong to Urahara since it’s clear that Yoruichi carries her set with her wherever she goes. The pants are much too long and they’re an awful green color, much like his, so I had to roll them up (which wasn’t hard consider I’m pretty thick in the leg department) as I had to do with the sleeves, which are pinned back with safety pins to stay in place.

“Do you need help, Tessai-san?” I ask him, rounding the counter to move towards the fridge. “I’m a pretty good cook, y’know.”

There’s a moment of pause before Tessai-san finally speaks. “If you’d be so kind…” I’ve noticed that Tessai-san doesn’t speak much, and when he does, it’s rather straight to the point as well. And he rarely likes asking me for help, too, usually going for Ururu or Jinta. Was he bad at dealing with new people? Maybe that was it. After all, I’m pretty sure he and Inoue didn’t have many interactions in canon. “I’m making… waffles, bacon and scrambled eggs.”

“Waffles?” I open the fridge, grabbing the eggs, “It sounds like you’re doing an American breakfast.”

“Yes… I like to try new things.”

“Ah, hmm…” I hum, noting that he’d also bought bacon and other things. My mouth watered, I knew Tessai-san’s food was good, but him cooking stuff like this only reminded me of my former life. My mother used to make the whole Big Breakfast on the weekends and I’d help her out. Food always tasted better when you helped prepare it yourself, “I can help you with the waffles. There’s a special way I make them and they’re really good!”

“By all means…” Tessai-san moves away from the waffle maker, “I’ll prepare the eggs and bacon.” I nod and set to work looking through the cabinets before I finally find what I’m looking for. On the counter, I notice that Tessai-san had already made the batter, so that was easy for me to just add what I needed and start pouring in the waffle batter.

“Inoue-san, you—!“

“Just call me Hoshiko.” I cut him off immediately. I’d been trying to get everyone to call me Hoshiko, since, like I said, it makes me feel less like I’m stealing.

“Hoshiko-san…” Tessai-san begins again and I realize that’s probably the best I’m going to get right about now. “I recall those cookies you made a while back… they were quite excellent.”

“Oh, you liked them?” I grin, mixing the batter up again, “Thanks!”

“No problem,” He says, though it feels like he wants to say more. I open my mouth to say something, but he beats me to it, “Would you mind sharing your recipe with me?” I wasn’t expecting that, but I was thrilled nonetheless. I had made it a personal goal of mine to bond with everyone here, seeing as I would be with them for quite some time. It was easy bonding with Ururu, she had wanted something like a sister and here I was.

Urahara was still an enigma, but it was clear that he enjoyed my company, and I was already prepared for the slow-burn type relationship we were in for. Jinta was probably pretty hard to get to know because he was so rude and kind of… dare I say it ‘Tsundere’. Tessai-san was probably the one who was the hardest to get to know. First, he was barely here and when he was, he stayed out of my way, so I didn’t know if I’d ever have a conversation with him.

“Of course!” I turn to look at him, beaming. “You might make better cookies than I do, honestly.” Tessai-san was an amazing cook, so it probably wouldn’t be hard for him to best me in pretty much everything.

This was a better start than what I’d anticipated, so this was great. I had managed to win over three of the four shop workers and I’m hoping that Jinta was slowly warming up to me. The rest of making breakfast went off without a hitch with us talking about our shared hobby—cooking and just food in general.

When we all finally sat down to eat, Urahara turned on the TV, with Ururu and Jinta instantly lighting up at what came on. **“BWAHAHAHAHA!”** Blared loudly from the TV as I dug into my eggs. I froze for a moment, looking up. Shit, was it that time already? It couldn’t have been.

“Bwahahahaha!” Ururu and Jinta copied him, though Jinta’s was much louder than Ururu’s. It was really that time. Soon after this, we’d be receiving our powers—Sado and I. And I’d still barely said anything to him.

We didn’t even speak much when we all hung out since I was preoccupied by Tatsuki and Rukia. And… subsequently Ichigo since I had to make it up to him for laughing. “Do you like this show, Hoshiko-chan?” Urahara breaks me from my thoughts and I quickly shovel some of the eggs into my mouth, swallowing.

“Huh? Uh… no, I’ve never seen it before.” And I hadn’t. I hadn’t had much time to watch TV since I was either at school or here most of the time.

“So lame…” Jinta tore apart his waffle. “This guy is hilarious. Thinks he can see spirits.” While I could agree that Don Kanonji _was_ pretty lame, he could see spirits—or at least sense them until later on.

“He’s supposed to be coming to Karakura within the next week or so.” Ururu adds in, pointing at the screen. The five of us stare at it, the large, gaudy commercial depicting him heading to the closed down hospital which was said to be haunted by something. I, personally, had never been near that hospital, but Tatsuki said she’d heard screaming when she walked by it, seeing as her house was over that way and it was quicker to go near the hospital.

“Well, I guess in a week, we’ll have to go see it, hm?” Urahara stroked his chin, “These waffles are good, Tessai.”

“I’ll need the recipe for these too.” Tessai-san speaks up, looking over at me.

“Sorry, no can do with that one. This is a Hoshiko secret. My special Hoshi-waffles secret can’t be divulged to anyone!” I press a finger to my lips.

* * *

“Why did _you_ have to come with me?” Jinta kicks a rock down the road as he and I head towards the grocery store. After breakfast, I texted Tatsuki to see if she was doing anything and when she told me she was on a day trip with her parents, I decided to just spend the day at the shop, which resulted in me having to do chores—like the one I was currently on.

Jinta and I had to go grocery shopping. After stopping by my apartment to change into something that wasn’t awful and gaudy, Jinta and I were on the way to the store. The boy had been complaining the whole time and I could only roll my eyes. I’d been tolerating it this entire time, but it was really starting to get on my nerves.

What was his problem anyway? It wasn’t like I was a freeloader like Renji was going to be—I was only there to get training and work. I didn’t eat unless I was invited to and I cleaned up after myself, so what was his real problem with me? I stopped walking while Jinta went off into another tangent. When he realized that I wasn’t following, he stopped and turned. “Jinta.” I spoke, approaching him. “What’s your deal?”

“What’s _your_ deal? Why did you stop walking? I’m ready to get this over with.” He glares up at me.

“No, what’s your deal with me?” I clarify. “I’ve been here for nearly a month now and everyone else is fine with me, except you. What’s your problem? Why don’t you like me?” He seems surprised by my line of questioning and looks away. “I mean, it hurts that you don’t like me and won’t tell me why.”

“Tch, whatever, it’s not like you would understand anyway. Go shopping by yourself, I’m out of here.” Jinta runs down the street.

“Jinta, wait!” I call out, though he’s gone within the throng of people. Oh, just great…

It takes me a total of two hours to find Jinta and when I do, he’s sitting at a park on the edge of Karakura Town bordering the forest on top of a rock that I’m unsure is real or not, just by looking at its size. “Jinta!” I pant, waving my arms wildly. He seems surprised to see me but quickly covers it up, looking away.

“What do _you_ want?!” He calls back, still not looking at me. “I told you to go shopping on your own!”

“I can’t! Not without you!” I shout, “You… have the money!” I don’t know why Urahara decided to give the money to Jinta and the list to me. It didn’t make sense. Was he trying to get the two of us to get along and work together or something? Cause that wasn’t going to work, not when Jinta wanted nothing to do with me.

Jinta hops off of the rock and holds out the wad of cash. I frown, pushing his hand down and moving to sit on a part of the rock that’s jutting out. “Jinta… why did you run away?” He doesn’t answer at first, instead looking away from me. “ _Jinta_ …”

It takes him another moment to speak,when he doesn't, he grunts in frustration first, kicking wood chips. “Everyone… everyone likes you more than me!” He finally says, though it’s more like a shout and I’m glad we’re the only two at the park. “They all probably think I’m dumb and stupid and annoying…”

His words leave me silent for a moment. He thought they liked me more than him? Well… I guess, in a way, his line of thinking wasn’t completely baseless. One could compare the whole situation to a family getting a new baby. The new baby received all the attention while the other children were just kind of… there. I’m guessing that’s how Jinta felt.

“Jinta, honey.” I finally say after we’ve been quiet for a bit. “It’s not like that.”

“Like hell it’s not!” Jinta whips around to face me. “Sir only ever spends time with you. I thought I had Tessai, but you have him now too with your-your cooking! And Ururu…” He shakes his head, “Point is, you took them all from me! Now I’m just there.” He looks teary as he glares at me. “And soon enough, none of them will want me at all! Just like mom!”

Jinta and I stare wide-eyed at each other for a moment before I frown. So that was Jinta’s story. His mother didn’t want him and somehow, he found his way to living with Urahara? “Jinta, I promise you it isn’t like that.” He doesn’t look as if he believes me and I rack my brain, trying to think of something to say. “I… I can’t say I know what it’s like to feel abandoned, but…” Sure, the me I was before didn’t know, but the me now does. “Urahara and the others aren’t those type of people!”

Jinta scoffs, kicking the wood chips. “I’m _serious_ .” I run my fingers through my hair, “Has Urahara ever hurt you on purpose?” Jinta shakes his head, “Has he ever made you do anything you really, truly didn’t want to do?” He shakes his head again, “Ever kicked you out?” He shakes his head again, “Then why would he, all of a sudden, change up now that I’m here? Everyone still likes you and cares about you—even _me_ —so when I tell you that nothing’s changed, nothing’s changed. It just takes some time getting used to someone new entering into your life.”

Jinta moves to sit down on the rock, sighing. “It feels different.” He says. This was bad, I knew something bad was going to come out of my becoming one of his students like this. Now Jinta was out here feeling all sorts of pain and I didn’t really know how to fix it. The two of us are silent for a long while and I can’t think of anything to say.

I always thought I was good at dealing with people, but ever since I got here, I’ve been complacent with what I had, following the canon and then I diverge a little and suddenly I don’t know what to do. I needed to step up. I move, pulling Jinta into my side. He struggles a little bit before ultimately giving in. My Anime Pep Talk and Friendship Speech Power is clearly malfunctioning. Jinta, I'm sorry, you deserve better than this half-assed pep talk. I'm trying, really, I am.

“It’s a little different, yeah. But it’s nothing you can’t handle; l-like how you handled that spider!” I admit. “I never got to actually thank you, Jinta. For, y’know saving my life and all… and my memories.” Jinta blushes, looking away. I guess Urahara didn’t tell him that I knew about that. “…If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead, y’know?”

“Yeah, you’d be completely dead.” He scoffs, trying to appear bigger than he is. We sit there in silence for a moment longer as I survey Jinta. He seems content enough with that and while I know my first ‘pep talk’ probably wasn’t the best… it was a start. Jinta probably wouldn’t change his opinion of me overnight, but where we were now was definitely a start.

“Let’s go buy those groceries.” I stand up, offering my hand to him. Jinta looks at it before taking it and I help him up.

“I… um…” Jinta pulls on my shirt, looking up at me. “You suck… at this.” Well, at least he was honest about. At lot more honest than he needed to be but... well, I'll take what I can get.

“Yeah, I know.” I laugh, pulling on his ear and ruffling his hair, “But… you get what I mean right?” Jinta nods, “Then I guess that’s all that matters. Next time just speak up, idiot.” I chop his head. He grunts, rubbing his head. “How could we get rid of you? Who am I supposed to beat up if you’re gone? Definitely not Ururu…”

“Thanks, though…” He mumbles. I bend down, cupping my ear with my hand. Jinta blushes, looking away from me.

“What? What was that?!” I yell, “I couldn’t hear you! Are you thanking me, Jinta?! Are you showing some kind of emotion other than annoyance towards me? Do you actually...” I pause and gasp dramatically for effect, “ _Like_ me? Wha—I gotta tell the others.”

“Wh-What? No! I said _you’re a brat_!” He moves to hit me but I manage to dodge. Looks like all that training is paying off. Though, as we left the park, I could swear that someone was watching us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here we end home girl’s training arc and we go on to something else. but don’t worry, there will be more urahara shoten bonding, believe me. they’re an interesting dynamic i wish had more time on screen.


	7. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko gets back to the usual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blegh, this chapter was okay, honestly. my birthday is in 2 days which is crazy. I'mma be 21

 Since my failed heart-to-heart with Jinta, I’d been doing my best to balance and juggle school, work and training, all while making time to hang out with the others and with more than nothing to do while I’m at work (and when Urahara isn’t watching me with the eyes of a hawk) Jinta, Ururu and I binge watch _Casual Soul Realm Assault Trip_ . Ururu doesn’t appear to be that into it, but Jinta and I are. Despite all things, the man is _hilarious_ and we find ourselves using Urahara’s credit card to purchase the entire three seasons on the Pay Per View channels because there was no other way to watch it.

When Urahara finds out, he’s going to be _pissed_ , but it’ll be fine. I can blame it on Jinta or something. Jinta himself seems to have warmed up to me despite my failed attempt at making him feel better. I guess it was my fail that made him feel better (and maybe me buying him ice cream on our way back from the store), as he probably thought I was some perfect girl—boy, was he wrong about that—who could do everything and seeing me flub up on what to say probably did wonders for his self-esteem.

It was fine to me because I’d much rather him start to warm up to me than keep acting the way he did. “It’s gonna be great when we see him live.” Jinta wipes a tear from his eyes as he watches Don Kanonji enter yet another abandoned mine shaft in search of a spirit.

“I wonder if he’s going to trip and just... keep going like he did in episode ten of season two.” I comment as we watch him scream, only for a small bat to fly by the screen. Jinta laughs, nodding his head. “Or… Maybe he’ll break a bone again.”

“Or maybe he’ll get stuck somewhere again like he did in that cave in Iwate in episode five of season one.” The two of us laugh loudly, only for it to die out almost immediately when we feel an icy presence behind us.

“…Or _maybe_ you’ll actually get to work and do enough to pay off my credit card bill.” Kisuke slaps his fan into his waiting palm. Jinta scrambles away from the counter and out the door just as it opens and in walks a customer. “Ah, as a single father of three, my life is so hard... Raising you kids is my life’s work. Where's my sitcom?” Urahara fans himself dramatically. I roll my eyes as he plasters on a fake smile, “Oh, hello and welcome!” Urahara greets cheerily, turning me to face the front. “And I’m taking your phone and the TV remote…”

“Ugh, c’mon _dad_!” I groan, “You’re being totally unfair.” Urahara messes up my hair and grabs my phone and the remote, turning it back to the CCTV security camera’s channel, telling me to work. I turn to face the front and notice that Rukia is browsing the isles. “Rukia! Hey!” I wave at her and quickly fix my hair.

Why did everybody love touching my hair? I know it was soft and nice, but you didn't have to touch it! This style was hard to maintain, I'll have you know. She looks up, obviously shocked to see me in here. She approaches the counter cautiously, looking around.

“Hey… Hoshiko…” She says, still looking around, “What… what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I work here.” I tell her casually, surveying the look on her face. She seems surprised by it, and I can understand why. It seems like every time she comes in, I’m never here, so she probably wouldn’t have known that I work here before now—or at all if it kept up like it had been.

“Hmm…” She finally replies, “Interesting. Where’s Urahara?” I can’t read her expression and I’m not sure if she’s aware I can see ghosts and things now.

“He went in the back.” I tell her, “What do you need? I don’t think he’ll be out for a while. I could go get him, maybe?”

“Uh, no, no it’s fine.” Rukia responds, looking around on the counter. “I can, uh, just come back later.” Rukia practically hauls ass out of the shop, making me quirk an eyebrow as the door slams shut and Urahara comes from in the back.

“What did Kuchiki-san want?” He asks me. I turn to look at him shrugging. “She left in a hurry.”

“I dunno. She just asked about you and then left when I told her I could go get you.” I tell him. Urahara shrugs, still standing in the doorway.

“She must’ve been spooked by you being here.” He strokes his chin. “Makes sense.”

“I’m guessing Rukia’s not a normal human.” I put two and two together and Urahara nods, doing finger-guns at me.

“Right as always, Hoshiko-chan. You’re so smart.” He coos, “You should help your brother, since he’s failing his English elective.”

“He’s not my brother, _one_.” I frown at Urahara, “And two, he shouldn’t be, because I’m already helping him.” Of course, it was more like me speaking random English sentences and trying to get Jinta to say them back to me. Of course, I was lowkey teaching him and Ururu how to curse, but Urahara didn’t need to know that.

Urahara shrugs and heads back into the house. “Can I have the remote back?” I call after him, “Please? I'll be good!”

“No!” He practically sings and I sigh. I needed to finish watching Cazh Soul before he came in a few days.

But being here without the remote and the children watching Cazh Soul with me gave me time to think. The Haunted Hospital meant that in a few days—maybe a week’s time, I’d be receiving my powers. As I’d said multiple times, things were starting to pick up a bit. Upon the receiving of my powers, we would officially be at more than the half-way point, since soon after that, Rukia would be leaving.

Now I could think about my powers. The scream was still there, I knew it because every time I was too emotional or I sang too loud, it would make itself known. So, I still had that. But was that it? The scream didn’t come from the hairpins, so this was one of _Hoshiko’s_ powers and not _Inoue’s_. That just begged the question—would I receive Inoue’s powers?

Everyone’s powers were attuned to their being, so maybe the scream was because I was a good singer or something? But that couldn’t have been my only power. Maybe it was some sort of defense mechanism and I’d lose it once my real power showed up, sort of like how Ichigo gained his real zanpakuto.

So then, did that mean that I’d get a different power from Inoue or something similar? I’m thinking it would have to be similar, since there still needed to be the role of healer fulfilled and nobody else was going to take it. Ichigo and Uryu already had their powers and Sado was more about ‘protect’ than he was ‘heal’. Sure, I myself wasn’t all about ‘heal’, but I knew I had to be at least somewhat about it, as the role still had to be fulfilled even if I didn’t really want to.

I guess the best thing I could do for now was wait, since there was nothing I could do about changing it now. When the time came to act, that was when I would find out what was really going on with my powers.

* * *

“Bwahahaha!” I yell as the door slides open. The person on the other side freezes before copying my stance and repeating it back to me. I grin, chuckling and let them pass.

“Hoshiko, you should stop doing that…” Tatsuki rubs her head.

I’d decided, that today I would greet everyone who came into the classroom with the signature laugh and if they did it back, they would be free, but if they didn’t, they’d get a chop on the head. Tatsuki was my first victim since I’d seen her on the way to school today. So far, she’d been the only person I’d managed to chop on the head and apparently it really hurt. I guess I was getting stronger.

“I won’t stop doing it until I can chop at least two more people!” I tell her, as the door slides open once more. “Bwahahahah!” I yell, adopting the pose. In front of me stands Ichigo, who looks more startled and confused. I wait a moment before jumping and raising my hand, bringing it down on Ichigo’s head.

“Ow! Inoue!” Ichigo yelps, clutching his head. “What was that for? Jeez… It seems like everytime I’m around you, I get hurt!”

“That’s not my fault, Kurosaki!” I point at him. “You should be in on the news! You should _know_!”

“About… what?” Ichigo tilts his head, getting over the pain I’d caused him. I do the pose again and Ichigo seems to recognize it this time. “Oh…That weird man... who gets stuck looking for ghosts? Er... Ghost Bust?”

“Yes!” I cheer, throwing my hands up. “ _Cazh Soul_ , the best show ever and he’s coming here to Karakura! Aren’t you excited?”

“…not… really?” Ichigo replies. He turns and I look up upon hearing Keigo and Mizuiro doing the laugh and pose as well as Sado, who only poses and doesn’t laugh. “Oh my god, not you guys too…”

“Yes!” I throw my hands up before dropping them into the pose. “Bwahahahah!” The three of us yell loudly.

“Okay, kiddo, that’s enough of that.” Tatsuki grabs me. “Sorry about this, Kurosaki.”

“C’mon, Tatsuki!” I whine, “It’s a good show, he should watch it!”

“I’ll watch it with you.” Tatsuki tells me, pulling me away as Ichigo and the others come into the classroom. “Stop bothering everyone with your nasty laugh.”

“C’mon, Tatsuki! It’s a good show! And I’ve seen all the episodes already, so you have a lot of catching up to do.” I inform her, wagging my finger. “You should catch up with _Kurosaki_!” I say his name loud enough for him to turn and look. “You would really like the show!”

“You’ve… seen then all?” Tatsuki blinks, “I don’t know whether I should be impressed or… well, let’s just go with impressed.”

“Rucchi!” I raise my hand as the girl enters, being bothered by Keigo, “Bwahahaha!” She looks over at me, smiling before she comes over to us.

“Oh, I’m too embarrassed to do that…” Rukia continues her shy act, even near us and I roll my eyes, ruffling her hair, “Also, it looks kind of… dumb. I-I mean… no offence to you!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty dumb, but I think the guy is hilarious. Plus, it’s kind of catchy.” I tell her, shrugging. Jinta, Ururu and I had been doing it so much at the shop that Urahara was about five seconds from banning the show in the house and us from doing it. It was kind of shocking because I thought Urahara was a man born from patience. I guess not.

Rukia looks me over and I’m sure she’s still thinking about how she’d seen me at the Urahara shop. “Hey, do you mind helping me do something at lunch today?” I ask her. If Rukia is shocked or surprised, I certainly can’t tell, because she just nods as the homeroom teacher comes into the classroom.

During lunchtime, I give an excuse to Tatsuki about not bringing lunch that day and having to go buy some. Instead of offering to go with me, she just nods, as she tells me she had to do something for the karate club during lunch anyway. As Tatsuki leaves, I grab my bag and tap Rukia, pulling her away from the classroom and we walk until we’re far enough away from the classroom.

We stand outside in the courtyard where a couple of other kids are eating in the grass.

“I’m sure you know why I brought you out here, Rucchi.” I tell her, seriousness in my voice. She looks me over, her face hardening as I drop my bag onto the ground. “It’s time… to eat the cookies you made!” I kneel down, unzipping my bag and pulling them out. “You didn’t have any when we made them the other day. They’re still good, it’s only been two days.”

“O-Oh!” Rukia laughs slightly, “I… I thought it was something else…” She sits down on the grass, with her own lunch that I’m surprised she managed to bring.

“Oh, you mean something like why I’m working for Urahara?” I say lightly, pulling out the small bag of cookies and holding them out to her. She falters before taking them.

“I… yes.” Rukia coughs. “Does that mean… you know?”

“Know?” I repeat. “Well, I know a lot, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“Know… about me… and Ichigo.” She looks around to make sure nobody is listening. I sit down in front of her, pulling out my bento. I can’t say that I know more than I do, after all, Urahara didn’t explain anything about Rukia to me after I’d drawn the conclusion she wasn’t a normal human. And when I asked him before I was getting ready to leave, he only told me I’d find out in due time.

Cryptic prick.

I decide to take the high road and not make a joke about Ichigo and Rukia dating and it's hard, believe me, since Rukia gave me the perfect set up. But I had to hold it in, also because the look she's giving me.

“...Not _exactly_.” I tell her, “But, I mean… I know some stuff. Bits and pieces... Like… Kurosaki wears black? And he… fights those hollow.” I could get away with letting her know that much. She takes in the information, obviously formulating something to say.

“I… I see.” She finally says, “Did you… want to know more? Well, I mean obviously. You’re probably not working for Urahara for fun.”

“I wish.” I shake my head, “He’s training me to fight and to use my power.” There’s no harm in letting Rukia know things about me. After all, I did consider her one of my close friends. It wasn’t like we were just acquaintances anymore. I even considered Ichigo a friend at this point.

“You have… powers?” Rukia questions and I realize that it’s probably about time I walk her through what I know and what I’ve been doing. She doesn’t really have the right to know, but what’s the harm in telling her?

The whole explanation—from both of us, since Rukia takes it upon herself to explain a little bit about what she and Ichigo had been doing as well—takes around the entire time of lunch and by the time we finish, the lunch bell is ringing. Rukia seems to be pondering everything I’ve told her and finally says something. “…Wow…” She breathes out. “Um, you’ve been busy.”

“So have you, apparently.” I shrug. Now that I’d been doing this for a while, it didn’t really… well, it didn’t feel like a lot, but finding out second hand everything that I’d been doing was probably a lot to process. “Well, I don’t blame you guys for the whole ‘my brother’s a hollow’ thing.”

“Thanks…” Rukia mumbles as we clean up our stuff and move to head in. She grabs my arm, “Um, Hoshiko…”

“Yeah?” Rukia looks as if she’s having a hard time trying to form words. “Something wrong, Rukia?”

“I… no, never mind.” Rukia says, her face brightening, though I know it’s fake. “Let's get back huh? Don't wanna be late.” I don’t push her to say anything, instead we walk back into the classroom.

Now that I’m slightly in the know—I know that Rukia and Ichigo are Shinigami’s and that Ichigo is helping Rukia out, but she didn’t tell me _why_ —I don’t know what to do with this information. I guess I can just hold on to it? I didn’t really _have_ to tell Urahara, who had been keeping it a secret from me, and if I ever confronted him about it, he’d simply tell me that I didn’t ask the right question and I would be annoyed. For now, I’d just keep it to myself, though I am surprised that Rukia admitted it to me.

Maybe it was because she was tired of keeping a secret and wanted to let someone know? That could’ve been it. Either way, it was nice for me, at least, to tell someone what I’d been doing all this time. I couldn’t tell Tatsuki and I did feel bad about it, but I really didn’t want to get her involved more than she was. She, at least, had to stay safe.

The rest of the day went quickly by and I went to the Handicrafts club since I didn’t have work or training today. Sure, Ururu and Jinta were probably coming over later to finish watching Cazh Soul, but that wouldn’t be until way late since they had homework and chores. I entered the club room, noting the lack of anyone else aside from Uryu.

“Ishida!” I sang, spinning into the room. He’d long since gotten used to my antics as Tatsuki would call them and I skipped over to his desk, pulling out the bag and placing it on his desk. “Ta-da!” I gesture lavishly towards the bag.

Uryu stops his work and looks at them before looking up at me. “What… are these?”

“They’re macaroons!” I tell him, pushing the bag towards him slightly. “I made them for you!” He stares at the bag once more and I can see his skin heat up, pink dusting across his cheeks. Oh, Uryu, if only you weren’t so pale, then people wouldn’t be able to tell what you were feeling.

“I-Inoue…”

“Ho-Shi- _Ko_!” I emphasize each syllable. “Call me Hoshiko!” I grin, leaning back, “It’s my way of thanking you for fixing Enraku for me. He’s very… important to me. A-Anyway, you said you liked lychee, right? Well, most of them are lychee, but I added in some other flavors. Hopefully you aren’t allergic like Kurosaki. Did ya know he was allergic to oranges? Who would have guessed?”

Despite my nervous rambling—which tends to happen when I’m waiting for someone to answer me, Uryu keeps himself calm and rigid, picking up the cute bag and looking it over. “I’m… not allergic.” He finally says.

“Then that’s great!” I clap, “I hope you enjoy them, Ishida.”

“Thank you, Ino—er, _Hoshiko_ -san.” Uryu coughs out. I smile, patting him on the shoulder and walking by. Looks like I was making progress with everyone. If things kept progressing this way, we’d be able to have little squad outings. And even… a group chat. Then I could send my memes to more than just Tatsuki!

I hum, nodding and heading over to my seat to fight with the scarf I was making. If I could finish this, I could pretty much do anything.

* * *

Even though I had originally wanted to go to the live viewing with the Urahara fam, I ended up going with Tatsuki and the boys, since Urahara didn’t want to draw attention to us knowing each other, which made sense. If I had showed up with them, then it would’ve only drawn attention and questions to my person. Forget the fact that I wasn’t supposed to be working officially yet—I was too young to work in my first year—I would’ve been in a lot more trouble. The place is packed with people who either love the show, hate the show or just happened to be wandering by when they saw the light and crowd.

Tatsuki and I stand somewhere in the middle with Sado, Keigo and Mizuiro. It seemed that nobody else wanted to join us, so the five of us were it. “Ah, Tatsuki, let’s go say hello to Rukia.” I see the girl through the crowd, doing the signature laugh and pose at Ichigo, whose body posture says that he absolutely does not want to be here. Tatsuki agrees, if only to get away from Keigo and Mizuiro who are being exceptionally loud—and I thought Mizuiro was the cool one.

“Hey! Rucchi!” I wave at the girl who spots me and does the pose. I do it too, laughing loudly which causes a couple of people in the crowd to laugh as well. “And Kurosaki! Who’d have guessed!” Tatsuki gives a small wave at the two as we approach.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to be here…” Ichigo looks over to the side and I follow his gaze, seeing his father, dressed up rather oddly and his younger sister doing the pose and laughing with each other while his other sister looks on with a bored expression. “Someone’s gotta watch those two…”

“That’s so nice of you.” I slap his arm, grinning. He rubs the spot where I just slapped him as I turn towards the building. “I pass by here sometimes on the way to Tatsuki’s and I always felt something off about it. Who knew there’d be a ghost or something in there!” I play the part of the ignorant teenager under Rukia’s watchful eye.

Ichigo scoffs, “There probably isn’t a ghost in there.”

“Anything’s possible, Kurosaki. I mean, I feel like I’ve seen a ghost or two before.” I pull on his ear. Ichigo grunts, slapping my hand away. I look at him, hoping he hadn’t heard what I’d said, but it doesn’t look like he did, considering he was too busy getting angry at my constant touching.

“Ow! Why do you do that?” He glares at me, though I only shrug. “Where were you raised: in a barn?” No, just in another world, also in another country.

“Hey! Hoshiko!” Tatsuki raises her hand. I look towards her, noting that she’s in the front with Sado and the others. “C’mon, I’m saving you a spot, better hurry!”

“Oh, shit. Gotta go, buddy.” I slap his arm again, “I’ll see you guys later!” I run over to where Tatsuki is, hearing Ichigo mumble about him always getting hurt around me. I’m sorry I’m so heavy-handed Ichigo, but that Urahara’s fault. Can’t be too lax around that guy after all. You’ll find out.

When I get up to the front, the lights dim, but there’s the sound of a helicopter from up above. Everyone looks up and starts cheering the moment they hear the line “The spirits… are always… with _YOU_!” Don Kanonji jumps from the helicopter, his cape spread out to help brace his fall.

“Wonder if he’ll have a cape malfunction again…” Someone says from behind me. I turn, noting Jinta standing there as well as Urahara and the others. I smile slightly, turning back to watch as he lands. “Dammit…”

“Don’t worry, he’ll mess up later, I’m sure of it.” I reassure Jinta, watching Don Kanonji go through his normal spiel. And just like that, the show begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's weird is the show is called "Ghost Bust" and "Casual Soul Realm Assault Trip" what is the Tru answer ??? KUB O EXPLAIN


	8. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this chapter of Hoshiko thinking and not doing much else is brought to you by HETAP. You've killed for less, I'm sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just thought of this, but Hoshiko hasn't met Yoruichi yet. Coincidence or just me forgetting ???? I'll let you decide... (it's neither lmao there's a reason)  
> Aside from that, Double Feature since my birthday

**“** **_BWA_ ** **hahaha!”**

“ _BWA_ hahaha!”

**“Bwahahaha** **_HA_ ** **!”**

“Bwahahaha _HA_!”

For a good five minutes, Don Kanonji and the crowd go back and forth, repeating his signature laugh before he points at the building and I was more than over it. Honestly, it was fine the first couple of times but it seemed like he was just trying to buy time. Finally, though, he finishes and whatever he’s about to say is thoroughly drowned out by the loud _wail_ of agony that shakes the building. I cover my ears, frowning as I feel Tatsuki tense up next to me. She looks over at me, concerned.

“You alright, Hoshiko?” She manages not to stutter, but there’s wavering in her voice. I’m a little more than sure that Tatsuki has heard the scream. She’s not the type to scare easily, even being here wouldn’t shake her.

“Y-Yeah…” I reply a little quieter. I hadn’t dealt with a hollow since my second encounter with Jinta, so hearing one sound so close kind of… threw me off.

“What’s wrong, girls?” Keigo asks, fake-concern in his tone. “Scared already?” He wags his eyebrows, a smile playing at his lips.

“Didn’t you hear that?” Sado asks from above us, “That loud scream?” Keigo pauses, looking around nervously before his gaze moves from me and Tatsuki to Sado.

“Wh-What scream?” He nervously stutters, “C-C’mon, Sado! Don’t play around with me! What scream?”

N-Nothing!” I quickly say, laughing nervously, “It was nothing…” I look up at Sado who hasn’t glanced at any of us since he asked his question. I don’t know if he can see anything like I can, but he could definitely hear things.

“Maybe it’s the venue, they could just be hearing things since they’re scared.” Mizuiro comments, looking up from tapping on his phone. “This is a pretty scary place.”

“Yeah! That’s probably it… haha…” I nudge Keigo, “Sorry for scaring you.”

“Hoshiko, we can leave if you’re scared…” Tatsuki grabs my hand. “Just let me know.” I quirk my lip upwards in an attempt to smile, squeezing her hand before I let go.

“No, I’m fine. Are you fine, Sado?” I look up at him. He nods down at me and we all turn back to face Don Kanonji. While he’s going through his usual spiel, I decide to quickly rack my brain and try to remember what I know about this episode. There’s a hollow (obviously) and… Ichigo goes inside and… I don’t remember much about this episode. This is one of those episodes where you really only half pay attention because it seems like filler.

From out of the ground, the hollow appears, though it is only half-formed, as there is no mask on his face, only the chains binding the hollow to the hospital. It's odd, watching this from where I’m standing, as I’d only been around two hollows and seeing a third one basically being formed right now was really… weird.

“Pay close attention, my cute students~!” Urahara says from somewhere behind me. “We’re about to watch a _brilliant_ man do something just as _brilliant_ as he is.”

Now, the way that Urahara uses the word brilliant makes it sound like an insult and if I didn’t already know what was going to happen, I sure as hell would know now. The hollow screams about how this abandoned hospital will make him rich, and the lights dim even further, “There’s a… _spirit here_ !” Don Kanonji yells loudly, hyping up the cheers from the audience. “Now watch! As I, the _Great_ Don Kanonji, Exorcism _God_ , take my Super Spirit Stick—patent pending—and purge this beast from this world and into the next!”

“That stick is _obviously_ him compensating.” I mumble to Tatsuki who chuckles, shaking her head. Don Kanonji plunges the stick into the hollow’s chest, peeling away the hole and the scream that the hollow lets out just about knocks me over. “H-Hey!” I yell, though I’m sure he can’t hear me. Tatsuki looks to be in pain as well, so she doesn’t move when I slip under the rope.

I know I shouldn’t be getting involved in any of this, considering this had nothing to do with me, but I had to do _something_ —at least for my ears. “Hey, asswipe! Stop doing that!” My own shout seems to draw some attention from the crowd who had been watching Ichigo (who I had used as a distraction to slip under the rope). “You gotta stop!” My yell echoes as I reach Don Kanonji and slam my palm into his chin, knocking him over and falling with him due to the momentum at which I traveled, but it’s too late. “You _dumbass_! You just made things ten times worse!”

“I—what?” Don Kanonji stares at me, sunglasses askew. “Girl, what’re you talkin--!”

“Idiot! Now he might kill—Tessai-san! Put me _down_!” I yell, flailing about in the large man’s arms. I know I wasn’t supposed to interfere, but dammit if I was gonna sit there and not do something because I had to wait for Ichigo! “Tessai-san!” I whined as he walked through the crowd, putting me down in the back. Urahara is standing there, with Rukia nearby as well as Jinta and Ururu.

“Hoshiko-chan…” Urahara takes the tone of a disappointed parent, wagging his fan in my direction. “Now, I know you’ve been training and everything… but where you are now isn’t enough to kill that hollow.” He’s right but I don’t want to accept it. “I mean… sure, you can probably take down a human—look, you knocked down that guy pretty easy.”

“I could’ve done something more.” I pout, crossing my arms. Urahara huffs, ruffling my hair.

“Next time, okay? Just let Kurosaki handle it this time.” Urahara says and I nod, frowning. Tatsuki comes through the crowd, grabbing me.

“Hoshiko! What-What were you _thinking_?!” She yells at me, launching into a tirade of scolding. I glance at Jinta who is obviously trying not to laugh at me. Oh, I was so going to get him later. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

I finally tune back in once she’s done and I sigh, “I’m sorry, Tatsuki.  I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You’re damn right!” She turns to Tessai-san and bows. “I’m so sorry about her… thank you for getting her.” Tessai-san nods, somewhat amused by my situation. “You bow too! Thank him properly.”

I sigh as if this is the hardest thing I have to do and bow, thanking Tessai-san. He accepts our thanks and Tatsuki runs a hand through her hair. “C’mon, I’m taking you home.”

“Wha—but why?” I whine, swinging my arms. Tatsuki begins pulling me away. “Tatsuki!”

“I’m not having you pull another stunt like that! What if you actually got hurt?” There’s obvious concern in her voice and I stop arguing, allowing her to pull me towards my house. I didn’t think about the consequences of my actions, I was just trying to do what I wanted.

“I’m sorry, Tatsuki…” I mumble once more as we leave the area all together.

She sighs and shakes her head, “Just… don’t do it again, okay?” We stop walking and she turns to me, staring at me with narrowed eyes before she softens up a little. “I mean… I know that it wasn’t a lot of danger, but I worry, you know? Promise you won’t do it again?”

“I… I promise.” I cross my fingers behind my back. I know you worry, Tatsuki. But there are things that I’m going to have to do soon and… well, I can’t promise that I won’t do something crazy like that again. The rest of the walk home is uneventful and we settle on my couch to watch the rest of the show, which ends pretty anticlimactic. It probably would’ve been better if I was there, honestly.

* * *

“What do you have to say for yourselves?!” Kagine-sensei’s voice bellows inside the small office of the vice principal. He’s an older man who doesn’t look at all bothered. When Kagine-sensei had asked for his opinion, the man had merely said ‘Kids will be kids’ and tried to wave us off, but Kagine-sensei wouldn’t have it.

“Kurosaki tried to attack Don Kanonji.” I helpfully point out, raising my hand. Kagine-sensei glares at the both of us while Ichigo looks at me incredulously. “ _What_? It’s true.”

“ _You_ knocked him over!” Ichigo yells, “I mean, I didn’t even reach him!”

“Yeah, and you fainted on the spot.” I mumble as Tatsuki comes over, putting a hand over my mouth.

“ _Hoshiko_ , we’re trying to get you out of trouble, not in more trouble!” She whispers harshly at me and I nod, pulling her hand down.

“That’s what I was doing!” I whisper back. “Kagine-sensei, I was simply… uh, trying to get Kurosaki-san to... stop his behavior! Then I tripped and… fell into Don Kanonji-san!” It was a bad lie, anybody could tell that just by looking at me. I was a terrible liar, which is why I hardly told anybody anything. “So… if you’ll excuse me…”

“You aren’t getting out of this that easily, Inoue, you either, _Asano_! _Kurosaki_!” Kagine-sensei yells at me then points at Ichigo and grabs Keigo by the collar. “Two of our students! Acting like ruffians! That’s not how you uphold our school’s pride! And the rest of you! You were all there and yet you did nothing at all!”

“ _Oh_ !” Rukia blubbers loudly, a tissue pressed to her eyes. “I’m _so_ sorry, sensei!” I can’t help but giggle slightly while Tatsuki elbows me in the side. “I tried to stop them— _both_ of them! But I just couldn’t! I was…” She throws a hand over her head, “Too weak!”

Ichigo nudges me, pointing towards the window where Sado and Keigo are slowly climbing out. Slowly, the three of us sneak towards it and Ichigo climbs out first, Tatsuki seconds and myself third. Once I’m outside, I slam the window closed, prompting Kagine-sensei to look over and notice we’re all gone. “H-Hey!” He yells, slamming into the window. “Kuchiki-san, where did you go?” We hear him yell as we make our getaway.

“Wow, Rukia-san!” Keigo blushes, rubbing the back of his head when we regroup outside on the small outside pathway between buildings. “You really saved us back there…”

“Give her a minute and she would’ve sold you out too.” Ichigo gripes, walking ahead of us with Mizuiro.

“Isn’t friendship just _grand_?!” I comment dryly, walking ahead and counting the number of people with us. I pause, looking back and noting Sado still standing in the middle of the open hallway. I go back towards him, “Sado, you okay?”

He seems startled by my appearance and clears his throat. “Um… yes.” He answers, “I just thought I saw something.” The day after the Don Kanonji show was the start of us getting our powers. I follow where Sado’s gaze had been and stare, not seeing anything.

“Maybe it was a student or something.” I shrug, knowing who it was. “Hey, Sado.” I start as the two of us follow after the group, “Uh… when we were at the show... you… felt something right? I’m not just being weird.”

Sado’s quiet for a minute and soon enough we’ll catch up to the others, so I want him to answer me before we do. “Kind of… I did hear that scream.” He admits, looking down at me. “You heard it too, right?”

“Yeah, I did.” I tell him, “That loud scream… uh, listen, Sado.” I stop in front of him, “I think… something is going to happen within the next few days, so you should… be careful, aright?”

I can’t see Sado’s eyes because his hair is always covering them, so his expression is mostly unreadable. I probably shouldn’t have warned him, but I’d feel better if he was at least a little prepared for what was coming. After all, he was going to get badly injured by it. He didn’t have the training like I did to take these spiritual attacks and come out fine.

“What do you mean by that?” Sado asks me, tilting his head. “Is… something going to happen or not?”

“It could be just a feeling.” I try to make it sound more like I’m unsure than I actually know what’s going on. “But… just be careful for now, okay?” Before Sado can say anything else, I turn and start walking towards the classroom. I needed to stop. I was in more of a mess every time I decided to open my mouth and tell someone something or other that they weren’t supposed to know—like Rukia with my whole training thing, but that, I guess, turned out fine.

And like I said, I wanted Sado to be somewhat prepared for the coming day’s events, so I couldn’t let him go around without having some sort of suspicion, even if I couldn’t tell him outright. We return to class, noting that Ichigo and Rukia aren’t in the classroom. They were probably out trying to defeat a hollow.

After lunch, Rukia stands with me, trying to find her name on the bulletin board with all of our test rankings. “Hey! Hoshiko!” Tatsuki calls me over as she stands in the hallway. I leave Rukia who is now trying to find a quiet place to make a phone call and wander over towards the beginning of the board, raising an eyebrow as she points at my name. “Third place, not bad at all.” Tatsuki ruffles my hair.

“You did really well, Hoshiko!” Michiru comments, “I didn’t know you were so smart…” She sighs, looking down the board. “I'm only in 51st place...”

Well, Michiru, it’s not at all hard to be considered one of the smartest when a passing grade here is about a 59. It also didn’t hurt that I was actually _interested_ in reading—mostly because it helped me stay alive during boring shifts at Urahara Shoten. I guess it all just paid off in the long run. I couldn’t fail, because then I’d have to take summer classes and couldn’t go save Rukia.

“If there’s one thing Hoshiko’s good at, it’s book smarts. Though the way she pays attention in class, you wouldn’t have guessed.” I glare at Tatsuki, but I can't argue since she is right. Usually during class I'm snacking or not at all paying attention.

I glance over at Keigo, who is crying to Sado and the others about how Ichigo betrayed them, only to find out that Sado also betrayed him. I shake my head, wandering over to Ichigo who is staring at Uryu’s name on the bulletin.

“Amaterasu…? Weird ass name...” He questions. I come up behind him, tapping his shoulder and pulling on his ear when he turns to look. I laugh, slapping his shoulder again. “D-Dammit, Inoue!” He glares at me. “First you get me in trouble, and you’re always hitting me…”

“Hoi, Hoi... calm down, I’m sure my hits don’t hurt that bad!” I cheerily grin, “But I’m sorry. For hitting you. You got yourself into trouble, though. I wasn't even standing near you when you fainted! Okay,” I clap my hands with finality, “To make it up to you, I’ll give you a piece of information. It’s actually _Uryu_. Ishida Uryu.”

“Hmmm… don’t know the guy.” Ichigo scratches his chin. “What class is he in?”

“1-3.” I respond, holding in my laughter. Ichigo nods, then seems to process what I’ve said and turns to me, eyes wide.

“He’s in _our_ class?” He nearly yells.

“Yeah!” I nod. Ichigo rubs the back of his head sheepishly. It was clear he really forgot about him—and I couldn’t blame him. I barely knew the names of everyone I didn’t associate with on a daily basis. Aside from Tatsuki, Ryo, Mahana and Michiru—and on occasion Chizuru—I didn’t know any of the other girls’ names, much less the guys.

“I… I didn’t know that.” He admits, still rubbing the back of his neck. “Are you su— _woah_!” I back up as Rukia comes barreling through, grabbing Ichigo and running off as Keigo and Mizuiro approach.

“Say it ain’t so! They really must be dating!” Keigo whines, “Why couldn’t it have been me, Mizu?”

“For the same reason I won’t let you call me that ever again. It’s annoying.” Mizuiro promptly says, looking over at me, “Inoue, congrats on third place.”

“Oh, thanks.” I grin at him, turning to look in the direction the two just ran. I could vaguely sense a hollow, only for it to disappear without much of a trace. This was it. Uryu was about to make his move.

* * *

“Hoshiko-chan, you seem tense.” Urahara comes up behind me, dropping his hands onto my shoulders. Today was a work day, so I sat up on the stool in the front, watching the store. I look up, staring at Urahara before sighing and looking back at the store. “Aw, does li’l Hoshi-chan want some ice cream? I won't even charge you for it.”

“No, I feel kind of sick.” I admit. And I wasn't gonna tell him I had already stolen some ice cream earlier with Ururu, Jinta and Tessai-san. Going back to the topic, I hadn’t felt like this in a long time. That fear piling up in your stomach and making it flip. It was something I didn’t want to feel. It was anticipation and fear and helplessness and everything else all rolled into one.

I couldn’t _not_ go to school these next few days. I didn’t know when Ichigo and Uryu would have their competition, so I couldn’t just… stay home. Someone could get seriously hurt if I did. But it was scary. Sure, I’d been training this entire time, but I’d never had the chance to put it to use aside from sparring with Ururu and Jinta.

“Sick?” Urahara clicks his tongue, resting his head on top of mine as he rubs my face with his hands. “My poor, poor Hoshiko-chan…”

“Stop!” I whine, trying to no avail to pull away, “You coddling me is making me feel even worse.”

“Aw... Shi-Shi-chan....! Don’t be so mean! I like to coddle my children, you know.” Urahara somehow manages to make it sound like he’s pouting, but looking at him tells me that he’s still smiling, obviously more than amused. Jinta walks by with the broom in hand and Urahara pounces on him, petting the boy’s hair and holding him tightly. “I like to coddle my children and tell them how cute they are! Oooh, li’l Jin-chan! Jin-chan! Cute Jin-chan!”

“Yo, g-get off me! And don’t call me Jin-chan! You wanted me to sweep the front, didn’t you?” Jinta grunts, trying to pull away from Urahara. I laugh, despite myself, “You could help too, Hoshiko!” He tries to pull away once again.

“Sorry, no can do… _Jin-chan_.” I grin mischievously as Jinta blushes darkly at the nickname. An idea pops into my head. “Ah! Maybe if you asked him in English to stop, he would.”

“Just coddle me then. Call me Jin-chan, I don’t care. This is where I die...” Jinta answers resigned, stopping his struggles, “Cause we all know my English is fuckin’ awful.”

“That’s another dollar in the jar for you!” Urahara sings as he lets Jinta go and prances away. “Uru-chan! Tessai-chan! Where are you guys? It’s time for coddling~!”

“That man… is something else.” I comment, watching Jinta pull a dollar out of his pocket. He slaps it on the counter and I take it, putting it in the jar underneath the counter. It wasn't... the safest place to put a jar of money that was constantly being filled (cause Jinta and I swear like nobody's business), but it was probably safest here with two over-powered pre-teens, a large and scary man who was not at all scary and a former Captain who could out run a horse while wearing sandals.

“Yeah, you’re tellin’ me.” Jinta shakes his head, “He’s been like this since the hollow all started disappearing and _not_ in the usual way. He always gets so touchy-feely like this when something’s wrong.”

“Disappearing?” I question. Was this also related to Uryu? Jinta nods, laying the broom down as he grabs a candy bar and opens it. “What do you mean, brat?”

Jinta glares and bites his candy bar, chewing as he continues, “This once I'll be nice, since you did do something funny that'll have me laughing for weeks..." I grunt and roll my eyes but nod nonetheless. I'd laugh if I wasn't the one who got in trouble for what I did. "Okay, so... It’s like… you sense them, right? Wherever they are, you just kinda know if they’re in town.” I nod, “An’ usually, you feel a Shinigami go after ‘em an’ then they’re gone, but like a different gone, you know? But this time… it’s like, no trace or nothin’ left. Someone else is gettin’ ‘em.” Jinta shakes his head, “There’s no type of spiritual residue or anythin’ left. An' I know he knows what's goin' on, but he won't tell nobody. It's a spiky-haired guy problem, I think.”

I hum, taking in his words. I could vaguely recall that that’s why the Quincy were purged. Sure, they were doing a good deed at first, but the number of souls that crossed over from this world became less and less the longer they were alive. I didn’t agree with the idea of killing a bunch of people just because they were doing this. Instead of killing them, they could've gone about it another way. Something like stripping them of their powers so they could all live. Urahara was smart enough, he could've figured it out, some way to do that.

But he was right, it kind of was an Ichigo problem, even if I wasn't really supposed to know about Ichigo's whole... involvement yet. Ichigo had to gain allies and get better with his powers, bond with everyone over something and... I couldn't readily interfere. Like Urahara said, I wasn't strong enough right now, so even if I wanted to get out there, I had to wait until I could readily do something.

"Makes sense, I guess..." Jinta picks up the broom and heads outside, presumably to sweep the front. “Hey! No runnin’ off to play with that Kurosaki girl, y’hear!” I yell after him.

“Sh-Shut up!” He yells back, slamming the door closed. I chuckle, being left to my thoughts. So, this was it. The beginning of the end in a sense. This daily life arc of our lives would be over soon after receiving our powers, so I had to plan accordingly.

I won’t lie, I was kind of excited. I mean, I’d be receiving a power! Well, another power on top of my sonic scream. What I hoped was a really cool one! I mean, c’mon. This was _Bleach_ , the realm of cool powers and I’d be damned if I didn’t get a bitchin’ one.

Though just as much as I was excited, I was even more afraid, after all, I didn’t know how things would turn out. Some things had been the same, but some things had also been different since I showed up here. Would I be able to handle this? I could only hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus Scene: Don Kanonji shows up at Hoshiko's house and asks if she'd like to be his bodyguard because that was a good hit.


	9. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Sado makes an appearance and says something more than 2.5 lines! He's actually... really lowkey goofy. Not here, but later on he will be. He might seem stoic, but really he's just a big sweet goofball underneath all of that good hair and hulking body.

 

As I get ready for school the next day, I can’t help but stare at my hairpins in the mirror. Come this time tomorrow, I could potentially have a power by using them. That is, if this whole thing is happening today. It felt like it was going to go down today—like a feeling in my gut that just wouldn’t quit. It was so strong that I couldn’t even eat breakfast—and I’mma tell you now, I love eating. So this was pretty devastating. I shake it off, fixing my hair and making sure my hairpins were nice and shiny. “Okay, y’all… if it’s y’all… let’s do this. Nobody’s getting hurt today!”

When I leave my apartment, I’m greeted by the sight of Sado standing there, obviously waiting for me. “Sado?” I question, walking up to him. “Wha… How did you know where I lived?”

“I live in the area, I’ve seen you a couple of times.” Sado explains easily, frowning. “I wanted to talk with you about something… about that feeling you had yesterday.” He pats his stomach, “I think… I think I know what you mean.” 

I blink, my eyes wide as I look up at Sado. Was he also further along with developing his powers than I thought? “So… you…?”

“I’ve had a couple run ins with those… monsters.” He confesses. “But I’ve never been able to see them. The live showing was the first time I heard something. And then… this morning there was a ghost standing next to me in line at the convenience store, the clearest I'd ever seen.”

I couldn’t remember exactly whether Sado got his sight right as he got his power or if he had gotten it beforehand, either way, this little scene here between him and I wasn’t to happen. So, I was semi-right. My being here  _ was _ changing things. Hopefully things didn’t change too much. “I… see…” I finally say, unsure of what he wants me to say. “Why did you come to me about this? Uh, not that I'm like, bothered by it or anything... I just... I'm curious.”

“To be honest… you’re the only one who has any idea of what I’m going through.” He says, “We’re one and the same, I think. I know Ichigo and Rukia but…”

“I understand.” I pat his arm, “Kurosaki and Rukia are a different breed from us, huh?” Sado nods and I laugh slightly, shaking my head, “Yeah, I get it perfectly. But, Sado… things… things are going to start, ah, heating up soon. Can you handle it?”

“Handle it?” He questions, “Do you know something, Inoue? Something that I should know?” Shit, I shouldn’t have said that. I guess only Kisuke could do the vague thing and not have anybody question him. But then again, he probably had, like, eight contingency plans for people asking this question.

“Um… n-not much more than you do.” I quickly say, “My feeling, remember? It’s just… my feeling.” He seems to take it, nodding as he starts walking. I quickly jog to catch up to him. “I’m thinking… today is the day.”

“I think so too.” Sado agrees, “I don’t know if I should act differently or the same.” 

A bark of laughter forces it’s way out my throat at the whole situation. I have the same feeling. When I was getting ready, I had no idea how to go about this. I didn’t know exactly when this hollow would attack me at school, so I couldn’t exactly plan accordingly for it.

“Just… do what you normally do, I guess.” I tell him, “Something amazing might happen if you do.”

“You mean like Ichigo coming to my rescue?” He jokes. Despite myself, I chuckle, shaking my head. “He’s already done it once before, so I don’t think that that’s too amazing.”

“You’re stronger than that, I’m sure you can… rescue yourself.” I punch him on the arm, looking up at him, “But... Kurosaki will come if you really need him.” Well, that was kind of a lie. This whole thing was banking on Sado being able to push through and finally gain his own powers of his own volition. It’s not long until we reach school and I breathe in, looking at him. “Even if it’s just a feeling, you should stay safe, Sado.”

“You too, Inoue.” He walks ahead when Keigo calls him over. I wave at the two and stay standing at the gate, looking around. I wanted to think a bit before I went in and helped continue the plot.

Talking with Sado has made things slightly better. I know he won’t truly be prepared like I am—Hell, I don’t even think  _ I’m _ that well-prepared either. I have something weighing me up more than he does, but at the same time, that’s what’s holding me back: the fact that I know a little bit more. At this point, because I’ve been here so long, these arcs are blending together and I don’t know much of anything anymore concerning this part of the story.

I don’t know exactly what time we get attacked, I only seem to remember once it’s upon us and that doesn’t help anybody out. And secondly, I can’t tell anybody that I know slightly of future events. I didn’t want to be pegged as an oracle of some kind if I did suddenly start telling people, because then they’d want to know too much and I wasn’t here about that, so I guess I would keep my mouth shut until the right time came. 

Aside from this, I still couldn’t help but worry about my power. Would I receive the same one as Inoue? Or would it be different? I still wasn’t sure considering our experiences, starting the moment I entered this world, were different. I was different, but I still had to fit into her role somehow. I shake it from my thoughts, all this thinking is only serving to give me more of a stomach ache. I had to get going if I wanted to do anything.

As I enter the school building and head to our classroom, I see Ichigo standing outside in the hallway, pacing and looking obviously angry. He’s probably still thinking of his encounter with Uryu. I couldn’t blame him, even though I’d gotten to know Uryu, he was still nothing short of a prick towards others. I approach Ichigo and he suddenly stops pacing.

“Oh, Inoue…” He uses my name as a greeting and I reach up, pulling his ear. “Can you  _ stop _ that?! Why do you  _ always _ do that to me?”

“Probably not and it’s not just you.” I argue, tilting my head to the side, “What’s the problem, boy-o? Anything I can help with?”

“Probably not.” He says shortly, “Wait, no, that guy. From yesterday, uh… Amaterasu?”

“ _ Uryu _ .” I correct him, “His name is Ishida Uryu. In our class… apart of the handicrafts club with me. I could go on, but that’s... pretty much all I know.”

“Handicrafts?” Ichigo blinks, obviously not expecting that. “No way, not that asshole.” I nod and grab him, pulling him down the hallway. “Inoue, what are you--!” 

“Sssh! And just look!” I push open the classroom door and we peek inside, seeing him sitting at his usual work desk with Michiru’s stuffed animal in his hands. He quickly sews it up and gives it back to her, a snide remark coming out of his mouth at her thanks.

“He’s just as good at sewing as he is at being an asshole.” I comment as we close the door. I look back to Ichigo who frowns, lost in thought. I tap his shoulder. “Hey, so what’s up with him? What did he do? Trying to steal Rukia away from you?”

“Wha—no! We aren’t even dating! You girls are something else…” Ichigo mutters and walks away, leaving me standing outside the classroom. 

“That’s fine, Kurosaki! I didn’t really even wanna know anyway!” I yell after him. He just looks back before he continues down the hall. “Y’know, you and Uryu should have a ‘who is a bigger asshole’ competition.”

“I’m pretty sure it’d end in a tie.” Rukia approaches me from the opposite side, smiling. “Of course, I’m sure Ichigo is more of a prude than Ishida-san is, so this might be Ishida-san’s win.”

“Eh, I dunno.” I shrug, smiling back at her. “It’s probably a toss-up. Sometimes Kurosaki can be a  real butthead!” I say loud enough that Ichigo can probably hear me. “…You know what’s up with homeboy?” I wasn’t expecting Rukia to tell me, but it would’ve been nice if she did. She looked to be debating telling me, and finally, she sighed. 

“Yeah, he had an…  _ encounter _ with Ishida-san yesterday. Did not, ah… did not go very well.” She doesn’t elaborate more than that and the bell rings. I follow Rukia down the hall and into the classroom and see Tatsuki’s arrival afterwards. She sits down next to me, tapping her finger on the desk, obviously annoyed.

“What’s wrong, Tatsuki?” I raise an eyebrow as our sensei comes in, calling out names.

“Nothing…” She quickly says, but the look on her face says she’s still thinking, “Actually, after school, can we talk?” My stomach drops at her words. What could she have to talk about after school? I couldn’t remember much of what happens before my fight, so I was actually scared. Was she going to call me out for not being the right Inoue or something?

“O-Okay…” I mumble back as sensei finishes roll call and we begin homeroom. 

I spent the next couple of hours trying to formulate a plan to minimalize the casualties that happen here. I couldn’t just go to another location, because it didn’t matter where I was, actually. The hollow that came to attack the school came to do just that—attack the school. Whether I was there or not was for my own benefit. The hollow wasn’t following me, instead it was following the place where it would get the best meal.

So I had to be here in order to protect everyone. And there was still a possibility I didn’t even think of: what if I  _ didn’t _ get powers?

I shook it off as quickly as it came into my mind. There was no way I wouldn’t receive at least  _ something _ . The scream couldn’t have been the only thing I was getting, Inoue had more than that, so I had to have more than that.

I had to, somehow, get Tatsuki away from this place before she could get hurt, that way I could at least keep the casualty that meant the most to me from happening. Tatsuki was my best friend and I’ll be damned if she was going to get hurt because of this. 

After this both Uryu and Ichigo were getting a fist full of Hoshiko.

After school, the class empties so quickly, it’s almost ridiculous. Tatsuki is one of the first ones out, and I’m one of the last because I had after school cleaning duty with a kid who barely shows up to class— _ asshole _ . I move towards the window, seeing Sado and his friends leaving. He catches my eye and I nod at him before leaving the window. This was it.

For this to be my first big, real battle, I was… surprisingly calm. Much calmer than I thought I would be. I guess my training finally paid off. I leave the classroom in search of Tatsuki. I had to warn her to leave before the hollow appeared. 

A sudden gust of Reiryoku hits my body like a freight train and it’s all I can do to stay standing up. “So it’s begun.” I don’t know if Sado could feel it, but I definitely could. I continue on my way. There aren’t many hollow out yet, so I should have just enough time to make it to Tatsuki before anything happens. 

“Tatsuki!” I find her outside, leaning on a wall dressed in her karate uniform. She had probably just got done doing a warm up workout since it’d been around 45 minutes since school ended. She waves me over and I smile, trying to act as if nothing’s wrong.

There was no use in getting her all panicky and nervous when I couldn’t even tell her why yet. “Oh, hey, Hoshi.” She greets me casually, “I did wanna talk to you, but I was just going to call you later.”

“Well, I didn’t have anything to do, so I came by to see if you were free.” I laugh nervously, rubbing the back of my head. “Wh-What did you wanna talk about?”

“Actually, it was a question. I, uh… remember the first night you made me ramen?” She asks. I nod, recalling the night Sora came and attacked us, “This is gonna sound weird but… I kinda remember Rukia being there? For like, a minute. It was… weird.”

I let go of the breath I’d been holding. “Yeah, it was weird.” I confess, “Uh, I thought it was a dream but… now that I hear you say that...”

Tatsuki’s eyes widen as she grabs my shoulders. “I thought it was a dream too! But… we couldn’t have had the same dream! I mean,” Tatsuki laughs, letting me go, “It’s weird, like I said. Y’know… and this is gonna sound odd, but I can… see ghosts?”

I’d forgotten this was when Tatsuki revealed that she could see ghosts to me. Did that mean that she could see the hollow too? She probably could, but sensing was a little different. If I could feel Uryu and Ichigo’s competition beginning and she couldn’t, I think this is the end of her spiritual awakening. I still had more to go, but for Tatsuki, seeing was the end. That meant that she couldn’t protect herself.

“You can? Well… you’re not the only one.” I confess, “I… that’s why I did what I did at Don Kanonji’s show.” 

Tatsuki chuckles, shaking her head, “I’m guessing that’s why Kurosaki did what he did as well. He's always been a little weird... but I knew he could see ghosts.”

“Tat--!” I open my mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a loud crash, something similar to glass breaking.

“What was that?” Tatsuki looks around. “The glass... what? What's going on?”

“Oi, oi…” Chizuru rounds the corner nearly a minute later, frowning. “The karate instructor wants us to help clean the mess from the windows breaking in the gym.” She seems to perk up upon spotting me, “At least I get to do it with Hoshiko-chan!” Tatsuki immediately grabs her, pulling her away.

“How did the glass break?” She asks Chizuru who shrugs. “Well, c’mon, Hoshiko. It’ll go faster with more hands…” I nod at her and follow, looking up at the sky. My eyes then scan across the building, spotting a hollow. Fucking shit.

The hollow, for all meaning that the word holds, is rather  _ ugly _ . It’s primarily white with purple… tentacles sticking out and from what I vaguely recall of it, the hollow doesn’t like fighting and uses those… bullet seeds to attack. “Oh  _ hell _ no.”

My breath catches in my throat and I quickly run to catch up with Tatsuki and Chizuru, pretending as if everything is fine. Tatsuki and Chizuru are already cleaning up the glass outside when I get to them. I look back, seeing that the hollow isn’t where it was sitting anymore. I had to make moves and I had to do them quickly. 

“Those boys looked odd, you know?” Tatsuki comments. I turn back, noting that she now has Chizuru in a headlock. She lets the girl go and Chizuru whines. “Like zombies...”

“H-Hey!” I clap my hands loudly. The two turn to look at me and I quickly fumble for something to say. “I-Ice cream!” I spit out.

“Ice cream?” Tatsuki and Chizuru repeat back. I nod vigorously.

“Y-Yeah, ice cream! We should… go get some! Right—right now!” I grab the two, linking my arms with theirs and trying to pull them on. I had to act calm, I couldn’t panic too much and let them see, then they’d ask if something was wrong and that hollow would be all upon us before I could even think of something to do.

“Hoshiko, we have to clean!” Tatsuki pulls out of my grip, though Chizuru stays there firmly. “Let me just change out of my gear, we can finish and then we can go for ice cream, okay?”

“W-We’ll finish before you get back and then we’re going! Right then, okay?” I tell her. She looks shocked at my adamancy about going, but I really needed to get them out of here.

“Fine, I guess someone’s got some summer fever.” Tatsuki runs off after that and I turn back to Chizuru before looking around. I had to find where the hollow went so I could be prepared to attack.

“Aw, what’s wrong, Hoshiko-chan?” Chizuru coos, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

_ “Oh, I’m more than that, dearie.” _ That’s when I feel it. Right behind me is that hollow. I can’t hold in my panic anymore. I push Chizuru away, who looks confused and kind of hurt.

“Chizuru, you have to get away!” I shout, “You have to go now!”

“Hoshiko, what’s gotten into you? Are you alri— _ AH _ !” Chizuru screams out in pain, stumbling back and clutching her arm. I can see blood welling in her wound and sliding down her arm as well as a large seed-like pellet embedded into her shoulder. Fucking shit, this was happening too fast. The windows break as the hollow shoots everything around the area, but manages to avoid hitting me at all.

“Chizuru! Are you okay? Can you feel your arm?” I cry out, moving towards the girl. I don’t know what touching it will do, so I don’t, instead I turn my gaze to Chizuru’s face, which is stricken with pain as she struggles to stay standing. Fuck, if only I was a little quicker, I could’ve had both her and Tatsuki out of here.

“I… I don’t know…” Chizuru grunts, tears of pain sliding down her face, “I… my arm… hurts but… I don’t know…”

_ “Ah, the fun is just beginning…” _ The hollow speaks in a high voice, cackling as if this is the funniest thing in the world.

“Shut up!” I turn to glare at it, “You’re gonna die here today!”

“Hoshiko, who are you talk— _ Hoshiko _ !” Chizuru yelps as she reaches out to grab me. I move out of the way, delivering an ill-placed kick to her back and she stumbles, nearly falling to the ground but manages to stay standing. “I don’t know what’s happening!”

“You’re being controlled!” I tell her, though I can’t tell her all the details. “Don’t worry, I’ll… I’ll save you!”

_ “You’re a smart girl.” _ The hollow says,  _ “To figure out that I’m controlling her? Well, I’m sure it’s not that hard…” _

“Why are you controlling her?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at it. The hollow flops it’s tentacles around, reminiscent of someone throwing their hair over their shoulder.

_ “Well, darling, I simply  _ detest _ having to fight my own battles…”  _ She begins,  _ “So, I take control of you worthless humans and make you fight each other. It’s all good fun to watch, really.” _

“You… You sick fuck!” I shout, “You picked the wrong humans to fuck with, I’mma tell you now!” Where was my power at? I could really use it right about now. The hollow shoots Chizuru again, this time in the leg and the girl rises again, coming after me.

“I’m… so… sorry… Hoshiko!” Chizuru is bawling now, her glasses askew and she’s dirty from when I knocked her on the ground. “I don’t… mean to do any of this!”

“It’s not… your fault!” I yell at her, dodging her uncoordinated hits and managing to get behind her. I kick her once more, this time she falls to the ground. “I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, though.” I hit her on the back of her neck and her body goes limp, falling in place. I catch her, setting her down gently.

I sniff, wiping my nose and looking up and finally seeing the large crowd that the hollow had been gathering. Shit, I don’t think I could handle this many humans, but I could try. I kick the first one who comes near me, knocking him through the crowd and subduing the next one, using him as somewhat of a shield to take out another.

Through the crowd comes Tatsuki, tearing people apart as she approaches me. We stand back to back in the middle of the crowd. “So,” She says as if we were just having a casual chat, “You learned to fight.”

“I did…” I say. Somehow her presence calms me down. It makes me feel as if I can do this. “We can talk about it later. For now, we have to beat this thing. …Can you see it?”

I don't have time to play around and pretend. This was serious and Tatsuki seems to get the memo. She doesn't act scared or surprised or anything of the like. She's always so cool in high pressure situations. Much better than me.

“Just barely.” She responds, moving forwards to kick another student. I grab another’s hand, pulling him towards me and tripping him up before whirling around and smacking another one into the ground with my palm. Compared to trying to knock Ururu and Urahara over, these kids were dropping like flies. “Pretty good.”

“Thanks, but it’s not over yet.” Tatsuki and I finish putting down a couple more students and we stand, facing the hollow. We aren't bleeding, but I do have a few scratches on me and I'm sure some of this is going to bruise up later.

“Yo! You freak!” Tatsuki addresses the hollow. “Anyone who messes with Hoshiko is gonna get their ass kicked by me, Tatsuki Arisawa, got that?”

_ “Oh? A bold human.” _ The hollow cackles with glee,  _ “Let’s see how well you do when you’re under my control.” _

“Tatsuki, look out!” I call, trying to push her out of the way, but Tatsuki is hit by one of the seeds regardless, leaving her open to being attacked by the horde of students.  **“Tatsuki!”** I scream loud enough that the students back away from her, uncontrolled for the moment, since the hollow is recovering from my scream. I run over to her, pulling her away. “Tatsuki, are you alright?”

“I’m fine…” Tatsuki moves to stand up, “We gotta get out of here. I don’t know what’s going on exactly, but it’s not good.”

“Yeah, c’mon, I’ll get you somewhere safe.” That plan doesn’t even make it off the table when Tatsuki is shot again, this time in the leg. She falters, but I don’t let go of her yet. I can save her, I  _ know _ I can. There’s got to be a range to this and if we get far away enough, then we should be fine, right?

Once Tatsuki is out, then I can come back and deal with this thing.

Tatsuki pushes me away and is hit again. Her scream is so loud it echoes in my ears. I close my eyes, trying not to let myself be affected by it, but it’s hard. She’s crying, I can see her holding back tears, or maybe those are my own, I’m not sure but we’re both struggling to move, “Tatsuki, don’t worry, Tatsuki, I’ll save you. It’s okay.” I move back towards her, gripping her arm and trying to haul her up.

“Leave me behind, Hoshiko.” Tatsuki looks me in the eyes. I see some slivers of hope, but she’s given up for the most part and it hurts to see her so… broken-looking and resigned to her fate. I sniffle, wiping away sweat and tears.

“Y-Y-You’re kidding me.” I say plainly, “I-I’m not leaving you behind! What kind of stupid idea--!” I drop her, backing away as she wobbles to her feet and attempts to fight me. Her hits aren’t as strong as I’ve seen them to be and it’s clear she’s holding back. “Tatsuki! I’m  _ not _ leaving you!”

Tatsuki is my best friend—even though it took me a long time to admit that—and I wasn’t going to leave her behind. I couldn’t just do that. Even with Inoue’s memories of the past, I had made new memories with Tatsuki. She was my friend—my  _ best _ friend—and I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her if I could stop it. Old memories flash through my mind and I think of how Tatsuki had helped me and been there for me, even when I was new and first moved here as Inoue—and even when I had become Hoshiko, she was still there for me. I felt my eyes water even more.

Urahara’s training didn’t prepare me for this, not at all.

“Hoshiko, this isn’t a suggestion! I’m not gonna…. Let that thing… get you!” I push her back and she falls onto her butt as the hollow approaches us from behind. “And I’m n-not gonna hurt you!” She screams once more, slamming herself into the wall that I had been in front of moments before. Blood splatters against the concrete and Tatsuki’s screams ring in my ears.

“Ah, isn’t friendship grand?” The hollow sweetly asks, “Though, it just might be the death of you.”

“You need to shut up!” I pull Tatsuki away from the hollow who had been fast approaching us. We’re closer to the school building now as I drag her towards the gym’s entrance. 

“Tatsuki, I’m not leaving you… because you wouldn’t leave me! You’re so cool and… ugh, smart and… strong and everything I want to be!” I shout, “Ever since I got here, you’ve been there for me and I want to be there for you!”

Tatsuki is almost unconscious by this point. She’s losing blood, it’s all being smeared across the ground as I drag her a safe distance away from the hollow. We don’t make it to the gym, but we’re pretty damn close. I don’t want to drag her anymore since she could possibly lose more blood. 

She protests weakly, but I know she’s not of harm anymore. She’s so weak, controlling her would probably have more cons than gains for the hollow and I turn back to it. “I know… that you don’t truly know what I mean by what I’ve said.” I wipe my tears, smearing Tatsuki’s blood across my face, “But that’s  _ okay _ . After this, we can talk all we want. So just sit tight. This time… I’m going to protect you.”

Tatsuki’s eyes close and I’m scared that she won’t make it. My mind is racing, comparing this to Inoue’s fight with the hollow and I’m not sure if this is how it went. I gather up my courage and I need to hope for the best. Tatsuki put her life on the line for me and I’ve got to do the same. Even if I don’t make it out of here alive… I need to at least save Tatsuki. “Yo, asshole! You’re messin’ with the wrong chick! I’m gonna kick the ass of anyone who messes with Tatsuki, ya hear?”

I steel myself, grunting with effort while the hollow taunts me. A loud scream tears itself from my throat as I force out as much reiatsu as I possibly can and it works. The reiatsu billows out, rings of it pushing out of my body and knocking back students, though… instead of the red rage I was expecting, my reiatsu is pink and…  _ calming _ . Even to me and I’m the one pushing it out.

I’m about two seconds from rushing towards this stupid hollow and tearing it apart when… well, my power arrives. I can feel it. I rise slightly and everything seems to pause for a moment.

Something snaps and in front of me are who I least expect. I guess I was wrong to hope for anything else. “Oh, hun.” The blonde in front of me crosses his arms, a smile playing at his lips. “You don’t look too happy to see us.”

“I… I… sorry…” I meekly reply, looking past the small fairies at the hollow, who still seems to be in shock at my reiatsu and probably from the loudness of my screaming, which is still steadily pouring out of me, though it seems to have lessened some, probably due to me summoning the Shun Shun Rikka.

The blonde only chuckles, shaking his head. “I guess it’s to be expected. You’re not exactly…  _ her _ , so one would only think you wouldn’t have the same powers, huh?” It was all confusing to me, so I nod dumbly and he chuckles again, “It’s alright, sweetheart. Though I’m sure Tsubaki is more than happy that he has someone so unafraid of violence.”

Tsubaki only clicks his teeth, crossing his arms. “Well,” The blonde begins once more, “Since we don’t have much to explain, how about we get this show on the road with some rollcall!”

“Ayame!” The girl looks rather quiet, dressed in pink and red. She smiles lightly at me as she takes her position.

“Baigon.” A bald fairy with a mask decorated with flowers is next. He flexes, showing off his muscular body.

“Hinagiku!” He wears an eyepatch and is also bald like Baigon.

“Lily!” The girl claps, her pink hair done in three buns.

“Shun’o!” The blonde grins at me, taking his place.

“And you already know I’m Tsubaki. It seems you know what we do and what we’re for, so let’s skip the tutorial and get it started. I’m itchin’ to fight.” Tsubaki wears a bandana over the bottom half of his face. I grin, nodding at him.

“I’ll bet. Okay, Tsubaki. Let’s see what you can do.” I hold my hands out in front of me, creating a diamond shape, “This piece of shit just hurt my friend Tatsuki, so I’m taking no prisoners!”

I’m not going to lie here, I remember Inoue’s powers, but vaguely. After a certain point, she learns to summon them without even saying anything, so I had to bring up my memory of when she  _ did _ have to yell out their names. It was coming back slightly, and I was formulating my own plan. If this worked, then I would be in the clear, if it didn’t… well, they could help me out. Though it was odd how they knew that I wasn’t Inoue—but I couldn’t think about that right now.

Right now I had someone’s ass to kick.

“ _ You think you can really contend with me now that you’ve got a bunch of fairies?”  _ She taunts, though I’m clearly not fazed by it. It’s all talk, as I can see that the hollow is kind of scared of me now. In a frenzy of fear and panic, the hollow spits out more of those pods at me, following me as I run around, dodging them. 

“Hinagiku, er… Baigon and Lily!  _ Santen Kesshun _ , I reject!”

The pods hit the shield sloppily with a loud smack and slide down the shield and I stand up as the three return to their own bodies, nodding firmly at my usage of them. The hollow watches us, more shocked and scared than anything else and I grin, strange laughter pouring out of me.

“Oh, I hope to the high heavens that you realize how  _ fucked _ you are right now.” I say to him, “Because I’m not only going to maim you. I’m going to  _ kill _ you. I’m going to make it so that you can’t  _ ever _ have another thought again, do you understand me?”

“Oho, I like this girl!” Tsubaki comments to Shun’o, “Tell me what to do, star-girl, and I’mma do it.”

“Shun’o, Ayame, Lily! Tsubaki, Baigon, Hinagiku!” I call them all. They become formless as I figure out what I can do with them. “ _ Shun Shun… Rejection! _ ” I yell out. 

With Tsubaki in the middle, the six of them become something akin to a lance and hurtle towards the hollow, so still looks shocked and before he can more, they wrap around him and squeeze. I only narrow my eyes, bringing my hands closer together until they’re completely interlocked with no space in between. I look up, seeing the hollow practically burst, disappearing altogether. Only small sparkles of dust are left, raining upon us.

The seed-pod things disappear from everyone, almost as if they were never there.

With the hollow’s disappearance, I find myself calming down slightly. “Now  _ that _ is an attack I wasn’t expecting.” Shun’o comments as they come back over. “You’re… really angry.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it either…” I admit, scratching my cheek. “I didn’t think it’d work, but…” I breathe in and out a couple of times, attempting to calm myself. “That thing shouldn’t have hurt my friends. Maybe then it would’ve met a better demise. What a legacy,” I spit, “Rejected out of existence by a fifteen-year-old girl.” 

Despite all the big shit that I was talking, there was still a lot I had to do. The battle wasn’t over yet, I still had Tatsuki to heal up. “We’re gonna have to talk later.” I look to them, “About how… well, you all know. But for now, we should heal up Chizuru and Tatsuki.”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you who to use for healing purposes, do I?” Shun’o asks and I nod, holding out my hands in the diamond shape. It probably didn’t do anything, but it helped me—right now at least—find something to focus on so that I could use the attacks. I, at least, remembered this part pretty easily.

“Ayame, Shun’o.  _ Sōten Kisshun _ ! I reject!” I point my hands at Tatsuki and the two get to work. I sigh, watching her injuries fade away. “Thank you so much…” I pick my way over towards Chizuru and do the same thing, “Thank you, really.”

“Well, we’re  _ your _ power now, so there’s no need to thank us.” Lily says, sitting on my shoulder. “So how was the first real fight?”

“Much more and much less... than I anticipated. I mean…” I run a hand through my hair. “Doing that attack really took a lot out of me. But you guys were amazing.”

“Hmph, of course we are.” Tsubaki crosses his arms and I can’t help but smile. “But you’re reckless. You need to be watched. Thinking you could take on a hollow like that with hardly any powers. You’re lucky we showed up before you decided to go with that punch-kick combo.”

“Aw… looks like Tsubaki already likes you, Hoshiko-chan.” Ayame giggles. Tsubaki sputters, a blush settling on his cheeks as he flies over to Ayame, pinching her cheeks angrily. “Tsu-ba- _ ki _ !” She whines, trying to fly away from him.

“We should probably get back to our dormant form so that Hoshiko-chan can get back some of her reiatsu.” Shun’o tells the others. Begrudgingly, the others agree and suddenly their presences are gone.

“Well, that was quite a show.” I freeze, turning to see Kisuke standing behind me. He claps his hands. “You did well, my student.”

“Yeah, thanks…” I mumble tiredly. Had he heard what I told them? I searched Kisuke’s face for any indication that he had heard what we were talking about for a moment, but he didn’t look as if he knew. I couldn’t think too much about it, as my adrenaline was finally wearing off and I could barely think straight. 

“I… I’m really tired.” I walk towards him. Now, I say walk, but it was more like a slow, wobbling limp towards him. He puts his arms out, catching me as I fall into him. I sigh deeply as Kisuke wraps his arms around me, running his fingers through my hair, eventually picking me up bridal style. “Hey …can we get ice cream?” After using it for an excuse, I actually kind of wanted some.

Kisuke chuckles, shifting me in his arms slightly. “I guess you deserve some…”

“Are… Tatsu… Chiz’u…” I can feel my eyelids getting heavy as I try to think. I hope he didn’t think he was just going to leave Tatsuki and Chizuru and the students here, because that was not flying with me. I don’t care if I was about to pass out from exhaustion.

“Don’t worry, it’s being taken care of. I brought Tessai with me.” He quietly assures me, “Now just hush and let’s get back so you can rest up a bit, hm?”

“I… okay…” I manage to get out before passing out completely. 

Well, mission accomplished, I guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah... yeah. I hope y'all aren't too disappointed in... me deciding to stick with the original powers. I just think they have a LOT of potential, and I don't wanna change Hoshiko up TOO TOO much. She's still, in essence, supposed to be Inoue, so it only makes sense she keeps her powers. But don't worry, as everything goes with Hoshiko, it won't be the same as Inoue. I hope it'll be an interesting spin and take on them when Hoshiko gets better with using them. I'll handle this with care.


	10. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which half of this can be considered "filler"

When I wake up, the first thought on my mind is Tatsuki. I sit up immediately, only to see that I’m not at the school and instead, I’m in Urahara’s home. I move the blanket, grunting when my arms don’t exactly work as they should. I feel tired and heavy, but it's not aching or sore, which I guess, is good. I guess hearing my grunts of effort alerted Urahara, because within seconds of me moving the blanket, he’s entered the room with a small bowl of ice cream. Funny how things work.

“Looks like our little heroine’s awake now, huh?” Urahara says and I can’t help but feel as if this is the exact line—or close to it—that he used when we first met. He holds out the bowl of ice cream to me and I take it, seeing a new bracelet on my wrist. I tap it, looking at him and he shrugs. “Someone likes using reiatsu a little  _ too _ much.”

I’m guessing he’s referring to the fact that my reiatsu kept steadily pouring out of me. Sure, I could… kind of control it, but only to the extent of using it for the sonic scream. Other than that, my reiatsu was vastly untapped most of the time. I guess I let so much out that I had a hard time getting it back in. I sigh, spooning some ice cream into my mouth. Cookies ‘n cream, my favorite. “Where’s Tatsuki? And Chizuru?” I ask, looking at him curiously.

“Tessai and I took care of it. Everyone there thinks it’s an earthquake and they’re all home.” He answers shortly, “You didn’t tell me that Tatsuki girl could see spirits? It was hard getting her memories to work.”

“Hmm, yeah.” I bite into the ice cream, “I didn’t tell you cause I didn’t know until I was battling against that hollow.” I hadn’t really known that Tatsuki could see spirits—vaguely, I did, but as I said, I was starting to lose more and more details the more I stayed.Small things, not big things luckily. “And it's not like I was going to call you in the middle of my battle to tell you about it.” He hums, nodding. 

“Well, what do you know? About this, I mean…” Urahara sits down on a pillow cushion, “Kuchiki-san told me she told you some things, and you told her some things.”

I frown around my spoon. I’m guessing she’d come by earlier, probably skipped the rest of class or something, but it’s fine, I guess. We were about to find out things now anyway. Urahara was about to fill us all in on things that have been happening right now anyway. Beside me, Sado stirs, sitting up with copious grunts of effort. “Don’t overdo it, big guy.” Urahara tells Sado who slows, sitting up and checking himself over.

I knew Tessai-san had already healed us, as I could feel it when I was unconscious, but Sado was more than likely still surprised that the grievous injuries he probably had were gone and without much of a trace. With Sado waking up and taking a few minutes to orient himself, Urahara runs through everything despite me not answering his question. Now that he’s told us everything, from Ichigo and Rukia being shinigami, though he leaves out  _ why _ Rukia is here and tells us about Uryu being a Quincy and he also tells us about Uryu’s challenge. With this, I’m finally able to speak a little more freely.

Glancing at Sado, I can see that this is a little hard for him to take in. “It’s alright, Sado.” I tell him, patting his arm. “We can handle this, huh?” Sado looks skeptical—a look I can see since his hair is pinned back by clips that look strangely like Ururu’s—but he nods nonetheless.

“Well, if you’re still on the fence, how about we go to a bridge?” Urahara stands, pulling out his fan, “It’ll help you make up your mind.” 

I stand, finally glad to have all of my mobility back and follow Urahara. Sado comes up behind me, though he’s much slower, obviously unsure of everything. I'd have to say something to him. To me, he was an invaluable member of the team and it didn't serve well for him to be so on the fence about this whole thing. The two of us follow Urahara out of the shop and keep walking until we reach a bridge. I notice that the sun is close to setting in the distance and this walking bridge is actually... pretty high up from the ground.

Urahara points into the distance and we can clearly see Uryu and Ichigo tearing hollow apart. “ _ There _ those two are.” I punch my open palm, glaring. “Oh, I’m gonna kick their asses…”

“Just wait here, Hoshiko-chan.” Urahara places a hand on my head, “They’ll learn not to mess with this type of stuff in a few minutes. For now, we’re going to mobilize. Ururu, Jinta!” The two children appear at our sides in seconds, “We’re going down there.”

Armed with their weapons, the three of them disappear and Sado turns to look at me. “Who were they?” He questions, his eyes still visible. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken the hairpins out, but I like to be able to see his eyes, so I think it’s fine.

“Ururu and Jinta.” I say casually, watching the two get to work. “They work with me at the Urahara shop.”

“So, then you’ve made up your mind? You know what you’re going to do?” Sado then asks me. I turn to him, nodding resolutely.

“You know… Tsubaki!” I yell out, my hands in the diamond-shape and focusing on the hollow behind Sado. “ _ Koten Zanshun _ , I reject!” I call out. Tsubaki snaps out of place, flying through the hollow and cutting it in half. He returns to my side and I look back at Sado, “I didn’t receive these powers… to just stand idly by and let others get hurt.”

Wow, I probably looked badass as fuck, but I still wasn't even sure how I managed to do that.

Sado nods, punching a hollow out of the air, which I quickly direct Tsubaki towards. “I guess… you have a point.”

Now, I don’t know how Sado and Inoue managed to avoid getting attacked by the hollow from standing on that bridge, just doing nothing, but  _ we _ sure as hell didn’t manage to avoid it. They were attacking us left and right despite me not having that much reiatsu—and Sado’s reiatsu was just as bad as mine was. I guess this counts as training with the power too. With Tsubaki at my side, more than happy at being able to fight and Sado behind me, the two of us plow through some lower level hollow with me doing the initial hit and Sado finishing them off until we reach where Urahara and the others are.

“So nice of you to join us!” Urahara claps. “I mean, I’m kind of sad that you didn’t stay put like I asked, but I guess it’s okay since you did wait a little bit. You’re just in time for the  _ Grande _ finale!” Tsubaki returns to the hairpins as we look up, noting the presence of the Menos Grande. I can’t even find it in myself to be mad at Urahara for his terrible pun.

The Menos is  _ huge _ , we only come up to a fraction of a fraction of its overall height. To say the least? This thing is pretty terrifying. In looks, it does  _ somehow _ look like a bunch of hollow stacked on top of it, as parts of its body move—sort of like a baby kicking its mother’s stomach or something sinister bubbling beneath its black skin. It’s large and grotesque and just plain  _ awful _ to look at. I steel my gaze and look anywhere but at it, and find myself staring at Uryu and Ichigo.

“They look... stupid.” I comment, pointing at Uryu, who has Ichigo’s sword strapped to his head and Ichigo, who is just holding it. “Whose idea was this? If that was me, I’d have had a better one.”

“I think we’d  _ all _ have had better ideas.” Jinta comments crossing his arms, “But it’s their mess, like Boss said. We already took care of what we had to take care of.” 

I nod, staring up at the large hollow again. I think that it’s presence would’ve affected me, had I been alone, because to some extent, I could feel it’s overpowering reiatsu, but with Urahara to my right, pouring out his own reiatsu—which I was used to and comfortable with, it made it so I wasn’t that affected. Sado, on the other hand… He’s frozen, stuck staring up at the Menos, which he probably hadn’t expected to see so up close. He’s sweating and panting and shaking. Overall, Sado looks just as bad as I felt.

“Hey, Sado.” I grip his arm, “It’s alright.” I try to use some of my own reiatsu to calm him and it does manage to work… slightly. Sado calms a little, his cold sweats calming and he stops shaking so much. He relaxes slightly, breathing out. “That’s it, just… breathe in… and out.” Uryu fires his bow, but it doesn’t work as they want it to and the Menos is barely damaged.

While Uryu and Ichigo argue over Ichigo’s reiatsu, Urahara pushes us back, trying to act as a buffer between us and the Menos. We all look up at the Menos, which has begun forming a large, dark red ball out of its mouth. “What the fuck is that?” I yell, pointing at it.

“It’s a Cero!” Rukia yells from nearby. I hadn't even see her when we arrived, “It could level the whole town if we don’t do something!”

“That’s your cue, wonder boy!” I call towards Ichigo who has already begun moving. He jumps, much higher than I’ve ever see anyone jump and manages to take the brunt of the Cero with his sword. I grip Sado’s arm as we all watch with bated breath. Ichigo manages to send the ball flying back at the hollow with a screaming grunt of tons of exerted effort.

The hollow wails powerfully and loudly in distress as slowly moves back towards the hole in the sky. “Well, all’s well that ends well…” Urahara cheers as Tessai-san catches Ichigo before he can hit the ground. I watch as Uryu releases some of Ichigo’s pent up Reiryoku before I make my move.

I stalk over towards Ichigo and Uryu, who is trying not to act as if he cares about Ichigo, he moves to open his mouth to say something cryptic, but I beat him to it, grabbing Uryu, pulling him forward and flipping him over my back. 

“You have a  _ lot _ of nerve, Uryu!” I yell at him not even bothering to stick with honorifics or even using his last name. I don’t have the time for them right now. The only thing I had time for was the deserved ass-kicking these two needed.

Why didn’t Inoue do this? I mean, she had enough time to get them back. Ah, she was nice. Much nicer than me. She could let things go, but me? No, I was a petty girl. And I had every reason to be upset. Oh, I’m  _ so _ going to let these two have it. They just don’t know what’s coming. Thank you, Urahara, for teaching me to fight and then having me go up against the over-powered eleven-year-old. My sense of how strong I am is so skewed now that I have her to compete with.

He sits up, looking up at me with surprise, “Wh-What? Hoshiko-san? What are you doing he—hey!” He dodges out of the way as I bring my foot down, trying to kick him. “What are you doing?”

“Ohho, another fight has begun!” Urahara claps as if he wasn’t involved. I was  _ pissed _ now that the danger was out of the way and these guys weren’t going to get out of this. “Place your bets, people!”

“You wanna know what I’m doing here?” I ask him, chasing after Uryu and catching up to him, tripping the boy and slamming my palm into his back. He hits the ground again and I feel no remorse. I don’t care if he’s been fighting hollow all day. “I’m  _ here _ because  _ you _ decided you wanted to  _ ‘prove Quincy were better than Shinigami’ _ ” I mock him using finger quotes. “Well, I’m going to put this feud to rest.  _ I’m  _ better than both of you. I mean, at least I don't put innocent people in danger!”

I turn my gaze towards Ichigo, who was is standing up, being steadied by Tessai-san. While Ichigo is thanking Tessai-san for his help. I run towards him, delivering a swift kick to his gut. “Thanks to you two  _ and _ your stupidity, Chizuru  _ and _ Tatsuki got hurt!” Ichigo wheezes, doubling over. I grab Ichigo by his robes and bring him over to Uryu, tossing him into the boy. They smack into each other and fall into a pile. “Luckily I was there to help them! Now what do you have to say for yourselves?”

“…We’re sorry…” The two mumble, not looking me in the eye as they sit up, bowing. Urahara comes over, draping his arm around my shoulder as he fans me, an obvious comedic attempt to get me to calm down.

“Hoshiko-chan, give them a break. They didn’t know any better.” Urahara tries to console me. His voice is serious as he looks over the two of them. “But you’d do well to listen to her. A woman’s wrath is far scarier than anything a hollow can dish out, I’ll tell you now.”

“Hey, don’t act all buddy-buddy with me!” I push him away, “You can get some of this too if you aren’t careful. Everyone can catch these damn hands, even you, Urahara. I’mma tell you now: I’m not in the mood!”

“Hoshiko-chan… I’m sorry!” Urahara whines, “I did my best, don’t be mean to me, it breaks my heart!” 

This Urahara was in some ways similar to the canon Urahara, but somehow different. Maybe it was because I was getting to know him personally? After all, we only ever saw bits and pieces of his personality. Urahara was a goofy man and I guess it was hard to show when he was always doing something smart.

I dismiss him with a wave of my hand and turn back to Ichigo and Uryu. “I’m going to let you go for now, but next time your stupid feuds involve people I care about getting hurt, I’m castrating both of you with Urahara’s cane,  _ are we clear _ ?”

The two nod vigorously and I sigh, running my hands through my hair. “Now that we’re all on the same page, I’m going home.” I can’t take much more of this. Even though I’d slept for a good amount of time at Urahara’s, I knew I still needed more sleep to regain some reiatsu. “You should go home and sleep too, Sado. It’s been… a long day.”

“Ururu, will you see Sado home?” Urahara asks as Ichigo is helped by Tessai. “Jinta, follow your sister.” I can see that Jinta wants to protest, but upon seeing me wobble over to to him, he reluctantly agrees. I'm sorry, Jinta, but this whole thing really took a lot out of me. 

“All this training and you’re still weak?” Jinta clicks his tongue, bending down so that I can get on his back. I move slowly, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“All these people and you still have no friends?” I click my tongue and flick his cheek. “I’m stronger than you, Jinta~!” I sing as he jumps slightly, pushing me into a better position, “I have my own…  _ secret power _ !”

“It’s not a secret if you go around telling people.” He comments dryly, waving slightly to Urahara who walks away with Rukia and Tessai-san, who is carrying Ichigo. Uryu has disappeared and Ururu heads off with Sado, who  _ didn’t _ live nearby. I still had to figure out how he found out where I lived.

When we get to my house, Jinta drops me onto my bed and kneels in front of it, elbows on the bed. “…so, you fought a hollow?” He questions. I knew he was going to be curious about it. I smirk, grunting as I shift into a sitting position.

“Yeah, Hoshi-nee was pretty bad ass, lemme tell you.” I grin, going into a slight reenactment. “I was all ‘you’re going to die here!’ and the hollow was all ‘no way!’ and then I pretty much decimated it.” I nod, changing my tone of voice as I go along. “True story.”

“Yeah right.” Jinta rolls his eyes. “Are… you okay?” Jinta… isn’t a  _ bad _ kid. He’s actually really nice once you get to know him. It just takes him some time to open up. And all the time that we’ve spent together, I guess it was bound to happen that he would just suddenly… start opening up and caring about me despite what he claimed.

“Aw, what’s this? Li’l Jin-chan worried about me?” I ruffle his hair, smiling at him. God, he was starting to feel like my real little brother. He grunts, pulling away and standing. “But… yeah, I think once I sleep, I should be alright.” He fixes me with a look, which I scoff at, “C’mon, I’m not gonna die. It was  _ one _ hollow. Ururu has thrown worse at me, we  _ both _ know that.”

Though he looks kind of reluctant, Jinta leaves shortly after that and I’m left alone. I really should’ve used him for what siblings are used for—getting you stuff when you need it. Well, it was fine for now, I guess. It wasn’t like I was thirsty or hungry or anything I just… had a lot of questions.

How did the Shun Shun Rikka know I wasn’t Inoue? And why did they agree to help me anyway? Was I changing canon the longer I was here? I hadn’t recently thought of any way to get back to my own world—hell, I hadn’t even thought of leaving in a long time, not since I first got here. I just assumed that I’d figure it out along the way. Maybe the Shun Shun Rikka could help me out.

And I’d managed to do something Inoue didn’t—I summoned Tsubaki again way before I was supposed to. I grunt, shifting again as I take down my ponytails and remove my hairpins. “I’m gonna have some questions for y’all once I get enough reiatsu back to do something.”

* * *

The next day, I’m feeling much more energized than I was yesterday. I wonder if Tatsuki remembers what happened yesterday. Urahara mentioned what he’d put in the minds of everyone at school, but I wasn’t sure if that affected Tatsuki. He did also say that she was one of the harder ones to get to believe the lie. She might not have even believed it at all. Only time would tell. I should probably talk to her. As I leave the bathroom and check the calendar, I see that it’s almost time for summer break.

The ball had only just started rolling and I was in no way prepared to go to the soul society yet. I shake my head, heading towards the door and putting on my shoes. “Sora, Enraku, I’m off!” I yell into the empty home, slamming the door as I go.

“Oh! Hoshiko!” Rukia flags me down while I’m walking. I decided to take a main road today, since I wanted to get some food. I’m halfway through my breakfast sandwich when I turn to see the girl running up to me. “Hey…!”

“Hey!” I greet her back and we begin walking. “What’s up, Rukia?”

“You okay?” She asks me, checking me over, “From yesterday, I mean. You looked pretty tired when your…  _ brother _ took you home.” I was going to stab Urahara. Now Rukia was calling Jinta my damn brother! This wasn’t supposed to catch on! I could hear him laughing now. I sigh, shaking my head to clear my thoughts.

“Uh, yeah.” I tell her, “I’m fine. I just needed sleep. I think we all did. Yesterday was… pretty hectic. And Sado adn I found out so much. It was… shocking.”

Rukia nods, obviously fighting with saying something else. I open my mouth to ask her what’s wrong when she finally speaks, “I… um, I’m sorry for keeping everything a secret for so long.” She looks over at me, frowning. “It wasn’t my intention… well, I didn’t even think you’d all get caught up in this, honestly.”

I pat her back, “It’s fine! We all had secrets, but they’re all out in the open now, so that’s good!” Rukia looked conflicted before nodding. She had more secrets than the rest of us did. “Hey,” She looks up, “You know, we should have a party—or like another outing like we did before.”

Rukia blinks, but smiles, “Yes, I’d like that. When should we do it?”

“Before summer break. I don’t know what everyone else is doing for summer break, so while we’re all together, we should do something!” It would be a nice little send-off, kind of. I think it’d be nice for everyone to have one last day with Rukia before she went back to the soul society. “Though I don’t think roller skating is the best idea. We can do something else.”

Rukia laughs, nodding, “Yeah, I doubt Ichigo would like that idea.” She pauses for a moment, “Hoshiko, how do you feel about… Ichigo?”

“Hm?” I wasn’t expecting that question. “Well… I don’t feel one way or the other about him. But… I guess I can consider him a friend.” I pull out a cookie from the bag of things I’d gotten from the convenience store and give it to Rukia, who takes it, thanking me before biting into it. “Don’t worry, Rukia,” I smile, walking ahead, “I won’t steal your man! There’s nothing to worry about! The one you should be worried about is Uryu! Hell, maybe even Sado!”

“Wha—I… Hoshiko! You know that’s not what I meant!” Rukia yells after me. I start running, laughing as Rukia chases after me. I was going to miss these days, I really was.

* * *

The morning passed relatively easy, all things considered and it was time for gym class. I, personally, wasn’t a fan of gym class. I’d never been, but I’d been doing better in it since I started getting trained by Urahara. Today, as it was one of the last days before the break, we were pretty much doing whatever we’d wanted and we spent yesterday trying to come up with a new game concept.

“So, after you hit the ball, you run?” Rukia asks, trying to get the whole thing clear. 

I nod, pointing at the bases, “You can run to either base, but if you trip, then everything goes backwards.”

“Backwards?” Chizuru tilts her head, “What do you mean ‘backwards’?”

“You have to run backwards to wherever you’re going until we either switch, the person reaches home again or they get tagged out.” Tatsuki explains.

“And at second base, you have to do the Macarena until you get to another base.” I add in. The others look confused at the game’s rules, but Tatsuki and I are fine with them, after all, we created the game. “C’mon, it’ll be easier if we just play it.”

We take our places with Tatsuki and I on opposite teams—it’s only fair, seeing as we both know how to play, so we should captain different teams to let everyone have a fair chance of playing. I eye Tatsuki, noting she looks just the same as she did before all the mess that was yesterday. Even Chizuru and neither seem to have anything against me. I don’t know if they remember or not—well, Tatsuki, since Chizuru was pretty normal to begin with. 

“Okay!  _ Are you ready _ ?” Tatsuki yells in English. I kick my leg up and grab the bat, readying it.

“You’ll never take me alive!” I yell back. These two lines are what start the game and Tatsuki throws the volleyball. I hit it dead center and the bat bends from the force at which I swing. I swear there’s a scream when the ball finally flies away and I see the faintest shape of something else in the air. Maybe the ball came apart or something.

I don’t have time to worry about it since I need to win this game. “Caw-caw!” I yell, flapping my arms and running towards the third base.

“Catch the ball!” Tatsuki spins around five times before attempting to run after the ball, dizzy as ever. She trips halfway off the mound as the ball lands hard on the ground. “Ah… that’s their base.”

“Rukia! Just hit the ball, all you have to do is get it far enough past Tatsuki and it counts!” I yell at her. Rukia nods, determination in her gaze as she stares steadily at Tatsuki who has the volleyball again. 

By the time the gym period is over, we’re all tired and the game ended in a tie. “That was… an interesting game.” Rukia comments as we change into our uniforms.

“But it was a fun game, right?” Tatsuki asks, buttoning her uniform blouse.

“I did have fun, actually.” Ryo admitted, “How did you two come up with such a game?” I shrug, looking over at Tatsuki.

“I wanted to play a game and Hoshiko wanted something with weird rules, a volleyball and a bat.” Tatsuki answered, “So, we compromised.”

“We really need to write the rules down before we forget.” I nudge her, “We can play it again sometime. It’ll lose its novelty if we play it too much.”

After gym is, weirdly, lunch and I leave the girls for a moment to find some time to myself, though I barely can since Chizuru comes up behind me, grabbing me around my waist and I have to force myself to not flip her over my back. “Hoshiko-chan!” Chizuru sings, “Come eat with us!” 

“Chizuru?” I pull myself out of her grip, looking her over. “…You okay?”

She blinks, obviously confused by my question, since my tone is rather serious. “I… yeah? Why wouldn’t I be? Are you okay?”

“Yeah…” I nod, “Just, uh, making sure.”

“Oh! You care about me!” Chizuru hugs me tightly, “You’re so cute, Hoshiko!” I really needed this girl to find a girlfriend or a hobby, cause I’m not a fan of this. I allow her to drag me back outside where the rest of the girls are sitting, eating lunch. “I found her!”

“Oh, good.” Tatsuki pats a spot near her and I sit down by her while Chizuru picks a spot close to us, but not that close since Tatsuki won’t let her get closer. I look Tatsuki over, up close she still seems the same as was before and I want to ask her if she remembers anything, but I can’t, not around this crowd.

“I was saying to Rukia earlier,” I begin, drawing everyone’s attention, “We should go out again like we did before.”

“When?” Chizuru asks, looking at the group, “You guys went out without me? You too, Hoshiko-chan?” She cries out, latching on to me. “How could you guys?”

“You had remedial classes that day.” Ryo says as Tatsuki pries Chizuru off of me. “Yeah, we even got  _ Kurosaki _ to go. It was all of us.” Mahana nods, sipping at her juice carton.

“It was a lot of fun! Tatsuki and Hoshiko showed everyone up with their duet at karaoke.” Mahana adds in. “And then at the end we all sang songs together.”

“Why am I only hearing about this now?” Chizuru cries. “You guys are so mean!”

“Next time, okay, Chizuru?” I pat her on the head, “Just make sure you pass your tests.” Chizuru resolves to pass her upcoming tests and we all fall into a different topic of conversation. I notice Rukia’s sad expression and I realize that she’s planning on leaving and at this point, there’s nothing I could do about it.

I couldn’t stop Renji and Byakuya at my current strength. I could barely destroy a low-level hollow! I’m sorry, Rukia. As much as I want to keep you here, I can’t. You have to go back and we’ll come rescue you. I promise that it’ll happen even if I have to do it myself somehow.

And I was gonna deck that Aizen bastard right in the face. You can count on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, this chapter was 9 pages and I'm like "where did the time go ????"


	11. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hoshiko gets an explanation that doesn't help her at all and things don't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the reception I'm getting from y'all. My Motivation on the realest is y'all, lemme tell you. Anyway, here we go!!

 

After school, when I get home, I end up pacing in my living room, trying to decide how to call out the Shun Shun Rikka. I know that I was able to the other day, using Tsubaki even after I was nearly out of reiatsu to sustain their forms. How would I call them out? We needed to have a talk before this all started picking up. They had answers and I had questions, so it was obvious what was going to have to happen.

“You seem hard at work.” Lily commented, sitting on my shoulder. I look up, noting the other five floating in front of me. I guess this was a lot easier than I thought. I sit down at the table and they all follow suit, floating down to sit on the table and I look them over. They seem just as they did in the anime, though more life-like. They weren’t very big, about the half the size of my palm. We sit in silence for what feels like ages until I finally sigh, breaking the silence.

“Do you guys eat?” I tilt my head, “Cause I’mma go get a snack.” I gesture towards the kitchen, “Y’know, I’ll just bring enough for all of us, I guess.” I head into the kitchen and rummage around, looking for cookies and snacks and return with two bottles and a tray of snacks, which I place on the table. “Okay, I’ve got… cookies, some cake… um, a chocolate bar… and I’ve got these two bottles of juice. I guess you can share, cause I brought straws.” I glance at the straws before looking back at them.

Baigon and Lily immediately take to eating some of the cake while I snack on a cookie. This is pretty awkward. I wonder if Inoue had to deal with this. She was never shown on screen talking to the fairies much, since the show wasn’t really about her, so we hardly knew anything about them. Tsubaki sat on the edge of the tray while Shun’o was trying to drink from the bottle. I opened it, putting in one of the straws. Ayame watches me silently while Hinagiku is moving around, seemingly exploring my apartment. 

After everyone is settled in and I’ve eaten three cookies, Shun’o sits in front of me, “So, Hoshiko-chan.” He begins, “You wanted to talk?”

“Uh… yeah.” I say dumbly. I hate being put on the spot, especially since they’re all watching me now. “I guess… I just wanted to know…”

“How we knew you weren’t her?” Ayame finishes for me. I nod, glancing at the quiet-looking girl. “Well, it’s hard to explain… we’ve been with her for our whole life, so we kind of knew when…”

“…When something wasn’t right.” I concluded. Ayame nodded, hiding her face with her sleeves. That made sense, Ayame was right, for as long as they existed, they had been with Inoue and for me to suddenly come and take her place… they probably would’ve noticed. That’d be the first thing that someone would notice—especially someone born and bred from her powers. “But I don’t understand it… why did I become her—er, take her place?”

“…That we do not know.” Shun’o frowns, hand resting on his chin, “All we know is from the moment Kurosaki-kun knocked into you on that day… you were different. I’m not saying everything is wrong it’s just… different.”

“And since things are different, I had assumed I wouldn’t meet you guys.” I confess, “Like back when we were fighting the hollow, I wasn’t sure it would be you guys coming out of the hairpins.”

“Well, we weren’t sure either.” Lily kicked her feet out, standing up. “We were already forming when we were with her, but when you came along, it almost felt like we were being pushed away… but somehow, here we are.” I scratch my head. That was odd, was my own presence suddenly starting to change things more than I had thought? I almost didn’t have the Shun Shun Rikka. Then what would I have had?

“I’m guessing you don’t have many answers other than that…?” I turn my gaze over each other them. They all shake their heads and I breathe out noisily. “This doesn’t make things any less complicated.” Tsubaki flies over to me, pinching me on the cheek. “Ow! Hey!”

“Stop whining.” He says coldly, “Just deal with the hand you’ve been dealt. You can’t change things now. There’s no way for you to go back to where you came from, that much we know.” I didn’t ask how he knew, since it seemed like whatever information they had, wasn’t much more than what I had.

“So… what do you think happened to her? Is she there while I’m here?” Now that I was having this conversation, I was allowing myself to think more and more of Inoue, whose memory was fading. Everything that I had known about her from the show was fading and her past memories were becoming my own. No longer was there a girl with striking hair color, but instead there was me (though my hair was equally as striking) and I couldn’t tell what memories were hers and which were mine, as they had all been replaced with how I look now. 

“As far as we’re concerned,” Baigon speaks up for the first time, “That girl is no longer in any world.” My eyes widen in shock and he nods, “Your arrival basically kicked her from this world, that much is clear.”

“At first, we knew her. We knew her name and… everything about her.” Ayame continues for him. “Where she went was… something like a… a h-holding place. She was there for a long time.”

“But when you diverged from her path somewhat—by meeting that blonde-haired man,” Shun’o added in, “Her soul was starting to diminish and as time passed, with no sign of you leaving this world, her soul was gone.”

This was some pretty heavy stuff. I wish that I could’ve helped her, I do. But I didn’t know how I got here nor how I could make my exit. I was stuck and now Inoue was gone. Technically speaking, now I really was Inoue. She didn’t exist anymore and the only person that everyone here knew with that last name was me and Sora. Whoever Inoue was, she’s all but forgotten by everyone.

“Damn… this is… heavy. I’m sorry, Inoue.” I finally sigh out, “I didn’t mean to gyp her life like that.”

“I think it’s fine how it is.” Shun’o speaks up, “Sure, it’s not exactly…  _ fine _ that you took her place, but hopefully she’s in a better place. We can’t dwell too much on the past, we can only look towards the future.”

“You’d do well to keep your mouth shut about what you know, too.” Tsubaki warns me. “I don’t trust that blonde man. He may be looking out for you now, but we don’t know what his true agenda is.”

“Urahara isn’t that bad.” I try to argue, but Tsubaki has a point. We don’t know what Urahara knows at this point. He could be listening in on our conversations right now. I did trust the man but… I knew a lot about this world, about things that hadn’t happened. But this still begs the question, what did he know? He said I was interesting, which was why he offered to train me.

Did he think I knew something more than I did? It was going to be hard, keeping secrets from Urahara, the man who knew all. “I’m sure he’s not, but we need to be cautious.” Lily pats my hand. “We’ve been with you since you came here, and we’re all connected, so we can occasionally read your thoughts.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry… if I’ve been thinking anything, like, gross and inappropriate…” I immediately apologize to them. Lily laughs, shaking her head.

“No, nothing like that. It’s not a constant thing—just when you’re stressed or something, or you’re overloading your thoughts.” Lily assures me. “We know a good portion of your… future knowledge, we’ll call it, but not everything.”

“Right…” I calm down slightly. “Okay, so I’ll try to keep things to myself… what I know, I mean. And any of those thoughts I sometimes have.” We’re quiet for a moment before I speak up, “So, since we’re gonna be working together for, like, ever… why don’t we get to know each other?”

“Tch, there’s nothing to know.” Tsubaki clicks his tongue, “We’re your power, why do you want to know us?”

“Tsubaki likes cherry tomatoes!” Lily blurts out, “Even though he’s never had them before!” Tsubaki seems to blush, flying over and pushing the girl. “Hey! Tsubaki!”

“Sh-Shut up!” Tsubaki glares at her. “Let’s go back to the hairpins, I’m tired of talking to you!”

“I don’t want to go back,” Hinagiku finally speaks, “I want more of this cake. It’s really good.”

“Oh, I made it myself!” I puff my chest out in pride. “And I’ll buy you some tomatoes later, Tsubaki. It’s nighttime now, so I’m sorry I didn’t have anything you wanted.” Tsubaki doesn’t look at me and instead, goes to lay down on the pillows on the couch. I’d have to get more size appropriate furniture for them—or learn to make it from Uryu.

After what feels like a few minutes, but turns into a couple of hours of talking to the fairies, they retreat back to the hairpins to save me reiatsu, since it was getting on the lower side.  I sigh, shaking my head. I didn’t get many answers and it feels like I’ve just opened a Pandora’s box of questions. 

The fairies were Inoue’s power and I was having doubts about using them. Sure, when it came down to it, I would use them, just like I did when I needed to help Tatsuki and the others, but for now, I would try to refrain from using them too much. I couldn’t, it felt too much like stealing to me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the fairies—they all seemed very nice and everything, but at the end of the day, they only reminded me of the fact that I wasn’t supposed to be here—a fact that I thought I was getting over, but with their appearance instead of something else, I was back at square one. 

Why couldn’t I have gotten something with my scream? Maybe I could’ve been able to sing a song and have it sweetly heal someone or something? No, instead I got the fairies and while I’m not overly  _ thrilled _ about it, I couldn’t complain. Having a power is better than no power at all.

Even so, I felt like a borrower, like a thief. Like I didn't belong. I hadn't felt like that since I first arrived here and the fairies just made me feel so...  _ unconfident _ in my abilities. I shake my head. I couldn't think so much about it or else I was going to get depressed.

I thought about what Tsubaki had said. Could I really not trust Urahara? I thought he was nice enough and he didn’t seem to bother me with pestering on whether I knew more than what he was teaching me or not.

For now, I was safe, since everything that needed to be known right now was out in the open and if anything, I could probably get Urahara to tell me more as long as I came to him with the right question. I move towards my bedroom, taking out the hairpins, letting down my hair and putting them on my nightstand. 

One of these nights Rukia was going to leave and I think it was going to happen tonight, because today was Thursday and Rukia, if my memory serves me correctly, leaves the night before school is over for the break.

I go through my nightly routine and stare out the window. Maybe I should go find Rukia? Sure, it would be odd, but I did want to say goodbye to her before she was gone from everyone’s memories. Though, I don’t know if I should. I mean, if I went to see her, she would surely think something was up with my sudden arrival. And she would more than likely get hurt, trying to protect me if they were chasing her when I ran into her. And to top it all off, I wasn’t even that good at sensing reiatsu, especially since Rukia's had gotten so weak, so it would be a long time until I found her and by then, she would probably be gone from this world and Ichigo would be nearly dead.

A large expulsion of reiatsu nearly knocks me off my feet and I grunt, abandoning my former thoughts and grabbing the hairpins and pulling on my boots before running out the door. Who cares if I was dressed in my pajamas? I follow the loud trail of reiatsu until I’m nearly there and someone’s hand slams into my stomach, stopping me. I move to attack the person when the calming presence washes over me and I look up. 

“Urahara!” I whisper, staring at him, wide-eyed. “What happened? What’s going on?”

He pulls me away and leads me down a different road as the rain begins to fall. “Ah, it’s hard to explain…” He says, scratching his head. “They’ve come for Rukia.” He shields us with his umbrella and it almost feels as if he’s shielding our reiatsu from being discovered by the Shinigami.

“Who? Where is Rukia going?” I ask him, slamming my fist into his chest, “Let’s go stop them! They can’t take her! Why do they need to take her?” I know I’m being childish, that I should just agree with Urahara since this is the way things are. I had said earlier that's what I was going to do, but now that it's real and it's actually happening... I can’t help but want to stop them now. Rukia is my friend, and I don’t want her to leave. Memories surface of our short time together and how she became one of my closest friends. “Urahara, answer me! Who is taking her and why?  _ Please _ ! Why aren't you stopping them? I know you're strong enough!”

“The Soul Society.” Urahara finally answers me, upon seeing my face. “It's... complicated. I’m sorry, Hoshiko-chan, but I can’t let you go after them right now. You’re much too weak.” 

"Too weak?! But you're not! Urahara, why don't you--she's gone." I cut myself off, my voice quiet. Urahara frowns, he then pulls me along, leading me back down the road I had originally planned on heading down and we come to see Ichigo lying in the rain, a pool of blood around him with Uryu trying to pick him up and failing miserably.

“Uryu! Kurosaki!” I shout, running towards the two. “What happened? Is he alright?” I move to help Uryu pick up Ichigo. Uryu grunts, his own wounds keeping him from doing too much. 

“There was a fight…” Uryu grunts, slipping in the rain and nearly smacking against the ground if it wasn’t for Urahara grabbing him. “They took Kuchiki-san.” I shoulder more of Ichigo’s weight, trying to figure out how to apply pressure to his wounds. I push my wet hair out of my face, no doubt getting blood in it.

I grunted, staring at the broken street before looking to Ichigo. Urahara heals up Uryu quickly with a small amount of effort and the boy stands as if he hadn’t been dying just seconds ago. He flexes his fingers, looking to Urahara. “…Thank you…”

“Don’t mention it.” Urahara grins, turning to me and Ichigo. He hoists Ichigo up into his arms and sighs, “Look at you, Hoshiko-chan, all drenched and covered in blood. Not exactly how I wanted this night to go…” I want to help Ichigo by calling out the fairies, but at this point, I know my reiatsu is a little too low to do that. I pick Urahara’s umbrella up off the ground, holding it over both of us.

“Ishida-san—oh, he’s gone.” Urahara turns to speak to the boy. He then looks back to me. “Ah, Hoshiko-chan… I guess you’re coming home with me tonight, hm? How  _ scandalous _ !” I don’t know how he can act so calm, as if Rukia wasn’t just taken from us. I stare blankly at him, not sure what he wants me to say. The grin slips from his face and he sighs, obviously reading the mood I was in. “…C’mon, kiddo, let’s go home.” He says, just barely audible over the rain.

I don’t reply and instead we begin walking towards the Urahara shop.

* * *

When we get to the Urahara shop, Tessai-san is waiting at the door for us. Rain drenched and pretty much depressed, I stumble into the house after Urahara. “…I’ve prepared the bath for you, Hoshiko-kun.” Tessai-san quietly says as Urahara heads further into the home, kicking open a door and heading inside. “Your clothes are in their usual place.”

I mumble thanks to Tessai-san and walk past him, kicking off my shoes and leaving them at the door. For as much as I’m here, I decided to start leaving clothes here just in case I was stuck here for the night. I stand under the shower head, rinsing off before getting in the tub and I feel the tears falling, mixing with the soapy water going down the drain. I splash the water angrily.

I was weak! I knew I had no place coming to try and rescue Rukia, but I wanted to think that I was getting better. And Urahara goes and throws that newsflash at me. I was weak, and even if I  _ had _ shown up earlier, I would’ve met the same fate as Uryu and Ichigo… maybe even worse, since I could barely rely on my powers at the moment. Especially because I didn't consider them my powers—they were Inoue’s and just another thing I had stolen from her.

Besides, what did I think I was going to do there? I guess it doesn’t matter now that it’s already happened and Rukia is already gone. I couldn’t dwell on the past anymore, I had to figure out my next move. I turn off the shower and move towards the tub. 

As I sit in the bathtub, knees pressed up against my chest in the tiny tub, I can’t help but think… was I ready for this?

The soul society trip was coming much, much quicker than I anticipated. And with me barely being able to summon the powers without draining my reiatsu, was I ready to go? Sure, I had just gotten the powers, so it wasn’t like it was that big a deal that I couldn’t readily control them. But there was also the fact that I was unsure of using them. I had to make them my power somehow, so that they would always be at their strongest when I used them.

I needed to train more, and I wasn’t sure if Urahara would be able to help me out anymore. I also didn’t know what Yoruichi’s training methods entailed, but they couldn’t be worse than Urahara’s at this point. Maybe she’d be able to actually help me. I couldn’t rely on Urahara right now, he was going to be preoccupied. When Ichigo awoke, he would tell the boy that he needed training from Urahara in order to do anything. 

I sit in the tub for a few more minutes before I finally get out, seeing that Tessai-san had already gathered my clothes for me. I put them on, emerging from the bathroom to see Urahara leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom. “Hoshiko-chan.” His voice isn’t the usual, nice and playful tone, instead it’s serious.

I only stare at him. What could he say to me? “I’m sorry I… showed up.” I finally say, “I guess I wasn’t supposed to.”

“That doesn’t matter. I managed to stop you before you got involved, so it’s fine, really.” He pushes off the wall. 

"What about Kurosaki? Is he alright? He felt different." Ichigo felt more human than he had ever felt before. 

“Kurosaki’s going to be fine, we managed to get him here just in time and Tessai is with him. His powers... or should I say Kuchiki-san's powers... have been cut off from him, but he should be fine with some time.”  I stand there, staring at him, waiting for him to go on. “Knowing you all, I'm more than sure you won't leave it like this. So, I’m going to tell Kurosaki about a little plan I have to get him to the Soul Society.” I raise an eyebrow at him and he chuckles. “They're the group that took Rukia, if you remember.”

I nod, watching Urahara carefully. “I’m going with him.” I step forward. Urahara doesn’t seem surprised at my admission, “How long is this going to take?”

Urahara holds up both his hands, “…Ten days, give or take.” Urahara says simply, “At your current power level… you’re  _ somewhat _ stronger than Ichigo right now due to training, but judging on how he just got beat pretty badly, that doesn’t matter. You need to be above and beyond. That gives you ten days to train and then ten days for me to do what I have to do to get you all where you need to be.”

He was expecting me to go with Ichigo. Good, at least we were on the same page right now. I nod, “Alright, ten days.” I repeat, “I’ll be more than prepared for it.” When he doesn’t say anything more, I move to go towards the closet and pull out the extra futon.

“You know,” Urahara stops me as I open the closet door, “I wouldn’t be letting you go and do this normally. Hoshiko, you know you are really one of my precious students, right?” I turn to look at him, waiting for him to continue. He sighs, running a hand through his hair and I notice he isn’t wearing his hat, so I can clearly see his eyes in the dim light of the hall. “And I can’t bear to see you get hurt… But… seeing as you’ll probably disobey me anyway… I might as well just let you go.”

“You’re right, I probably would disobey you and somehow make my way to that place.” I turn to face him, “Rukia’s my friend and… I don’t know what’s going to happen to her, but I don’t like this whole ‘taken’ thing. In the morning, you’re telling me what you know. Because I know you know something.”

If I could get Urahara to tell me some things, then I wouldn’t have to act as if I didn’t know anything. The more I got him to tell me, the more I could flaunt my knowledge without it seeming weird how I know so much. But I had to be cautious, after all, Tsubaki was right. I could trust Urahara, but I couldn’t fully trust him. Not until we were on the same page completely.

Urahara raises his hands in mock surrender. “Oh, Hoshiko-chan. You’re so mean tonight! Taking charge… I like that in a woman. Too bad you’re much too young for me!” Yeah, it was too bad. It was also bad that I was starting to see him as more of a dad than a potential love interest. But don’t tell him that, he’d have a damn field day. “But I’ll tell you if you make Hoshi-waffles again~!”

I sigh, shaking my head and crack a slight smile. Urahara claps, “Fine. But only because this is really important.” Urahara leaves the hallway, going to check on Tessai-san and Ichigo while I open the closet, remembering that Tessai-san probably set up the spare futon for me already. 

Sure enough, when I enter Jinta and Ururu’s room, the futon is already spread out. I sit down on it, pushing Jinta’s leg, only for the boy to spring up. I knew the two had to be awake. Ururu’s eyes open as well, but she doesn’t sit up, since she’s sealed into her futon. “So, what happened?” Jinta, as nosy as ever, asks.

“Rukia’s been taken by the Soul Society.” I inform them shortly. “An’ whatever’s going on… Urahara’s gonna talk over breakfast.”

“I’m guessin’ that orange-haired idiot is gonna do something about it?” Jinta places a hand on his chin. “Always in trouble, that guy…”

“Yeah, we’re both doing something about it.” I say to the two. “We’ve got some time before we go and do something stupid.”

“Well,” Jinta finally says, “Don’t do something too stupid. Who else is gonna take me to that convention in October? I don’t wanna go with Urahara, that’s for damn sure.” I ruffle Jinta’s hair, deciding not to tease him. This was just his way of showing worry. Ururu quietly agreed with him and I patted her head, smiling at her. I was tired. I’d been up all day and this just added to my exhaustion. I needed sleep and to replenish some of my reiatsu.

“Yeah…” I yawn, stretching and taking out my hairpins. I hand them to Jinta who scoots over, putting them onto his desk. “Let’s go to sleep, you two.” The moment my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light.

I think what hurts the most is the fact that I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Hoshiko is extra disappointed and getting extra determined. It all happened so fast.


	12. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally uploaded this without fixing it up first lmao. Idk if any of y'all who bookmarked this saw. My face when I did it was... my eyes were so wide lmao. I sat there in shock for 2.5 and then quickly deleted it.

When I wake up the next morning, I need to figure out what to do with my hair. I know how… out of place that sounds, but just listen, okay? Inoue Hoshiko is known for her twin ponytails and hair pins, but how can I have twin ponytails when… I have no hair ties? Last night before I left my house, I didn’t bother putting my hair up—well, I didn’t even think about it—and I ran out the door, only to run into the aftermath of this whole mess.

Sure, I could potentially borrow them from Ururu, but I was thinking it’s time for a change anyway. I wanted to change myself a little bit, consider this my sort of ‘Transformation Tuesday’ type deal since there was no way I was cutting my hair of my own volition—Tatsuki had fought for me to keep it long, so I wasn’t gonna _not_ keep it long. So, my hair stays long and it is a sharp contrast to the hair I could vaguely recall having in my past life, so simply a different way of styling my hair was what I came to.

I stand in front of the bathroom mirror while Ururu and Jinta brush their teeth and get ready for school. After messing about with a couple of awful hairstyles, I frown, leaving the bathroom and heading into the kitchen. I don’t find Tessai-san in the kitchen and note that he’s probably still with Ichigo.

“Tessai-san.” I push open the door and find him… lying on top of Ichigo. I ignore his oddness as the man looks up at me, eventually sitting up and straddling Ichigo. It takes all I can not to laugh at the situation and I wish I had my phone with me… then I could’ve had photographic evidence.

“Ah, Hoshiko-kun.” Tessai-san greets me. “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

“B-Better now that I’ve seen… this renaissance painting of a scene.” I laugh out, approaching him. “You’re good at braiding hair, right?” I ask him. He looks at me before nodding and I sit down just to the left of Ichigo, “Good, can you braid my hair—like, across the top?” I make movements to show him what I want and he agrees, quickly setting to work.

When he finishes, I stand up, grabbing the mirror on the table and looking it over. The braid goes over the top of my head, similar to a crown and which I learned from Tessai-san is called a 'hairband braid', starting from one side of my head, near my ear and ending near the other. A small loop of hair, which sticks out slightly on my left side, is pinned there by one of my hairpins. I pin the other one in my bangs, keeping them tucked to the side. “How do you like it, Hoshiko-kun?” Tessai-san asks when I put the mirror down.

“It’s great, Tessai-san! Thank you.” I nod at him. “I’m going to make breakfast, so I’ll have Urahara bring you some when I’m done.” Tessai-san thanks me before I leave and I head into the kitchen and see Urahara sitting at the island counter, drinking a cup of milk. I grab one of the aprons, putting it on over my school uniform. The apron was pink, with a bright yellow star in the middle of it, depicting that it belonged to me.

“Oh, Hoshiko-chan!” Urahara greets me, waving wildly, “You’ve finally come to make waffles, have you?”

“Indeed, I have.” I move around the kitchen, pulling out pots and pans and ingredients to make breakfast. “You can talk while I cook, you know.” I tell him, turning the burners on low. My eyes don't leave the pan, but I can hear Urahara shift behind me.

“Always to the point, huh, Hoshiko-chan?” Urahara laughs almost bitterly, though there’s amusement somewhere in there, I can tell. “Well, I already told you—Soul Society took Rukia back.”

“Ah, but you never said _why_ .” I needed something from, I couldn’t spill the beans I had without Urahara giving them to me. “I want to know _why_ they took her. Did she do something wrong?”

“That… I don’t know.” He says and I don’t know if he’s being truthful or not. “I believe there was something about treason, though. Which makes sense. Shinigami don't give their powers out willy-nilly. It's against the laws of their land. And to add to that, Shinigami aren’t supposed to remain in the human world for as long as Rukia did. It’s nearing the end of July now, she’s been here for months.”

Rukia had been here just a little longer than I had been here, which was surprising that it’d been so long. I got here around the mid to end of May and everything that had happened… had only started happening maybe a week after I first arrived here. It really put things into perspective and showed how misconstrued the timeline was. One would think things were passing by so quickly that it’d been more than about three months, but it hadn’t.

“So, treason…” I decide to say, choosing my words carefully. “What’s that mean to them? Like, we’re gonna imprison you forever or something?”

“Possibly.” Urahara taps the counter, “I don’t know all the details, Hoshiko-chan. You’re putting much more faith in me than I have in myself. Makes me wanna go in there, guns blazin’ and do somethin’. But I can’t exactly do that.” I decide not to question him on it, he could be telling the truth, or protecting me from what was really going on.

“I believe you, Urahara.” I turn to look into his eyes and smile. “You wouldn’t lie to me.” There’s a flash of something that makes his expression nearly falter, but he manages to keep it intact, “If you don’t know anything else, then we’re just going to have to go and find out ourselves.”

“Yeah…” He murmurs quietly before perking up, “How are the waffles coming along?”

“They’ll be done when they’re done!” I chide him. Urahara whines and I shoo him out of the kitchen. I didn’t want him finding out my secret recipe for the waffles after all. I sigh once Urahara is gone. He wasn't much help and... I knew that he knew more, but how much more did he know? He couldn't have known about Aizen's eventual betrayal... could he? I wasn't too sure where Urahara stood with everything. He was just as... mysterious as he'd always been. Sure, he was preparing us and everything, but he was rather tight-lipped about everything.

I only wanted him to tell me things so that I could speak a little bit more freely when it came down to certain things. Well, I wasn't too surprised that he didn't let much slip, he probably assumed that he didn't need to tell us much. After all, he was probably banking on us finding things out there. 

But then again... when we got back, Urahara seemed to know a lot more than I thought he would. Like Aizen's betrayal. Maybe that's why he was sending Yoruichi with us? Maybe Yoruichi was able to contact him after everything went down and told him all about what happened. I don't think he was expecting what actually goes down to go down. I could only wonder what would have happened if Aizen didn't defect. But there was no way of knowing. One would've had to be back there, at the exact moment that Aizen decided to go down this path.

I was way too far off to be able to do something like that. I shake it from my thoughts. Really, all I had to focus on was saving Rukia and the rest would come naturally. I just had to be patient.

After breakfast, I go to leave, only to be stopped by Urahara at the door. "Listen... Hoshiko-chan." Urahara places his hand on my shoulder, "I..." He looks rather conflicted before he shakes his head, “...At school today… don’t mention that you know Rukia.”

“…is this some weird Shinigami thing?” I raise an eyebrow, knowing that it is. Urahara nods, “I’m guessing nobody is going to remember her now that she’s gone, huh?”

“Once you cross back over, it’s like you were never here in the first place, especially to those with little to no spiritual energy.” Urahara explains, “...Ichigo is healing up nicely, so I think he’ll be along shortly.” I say my goodbyes to Urahara and Tessai-san and go on my way.

There was a lot to think about. What was I going to tell Tatsuki? She’d more than likely want to hang out during the break, but I was going to be off training to go to the Soul Society. Could I tell her that? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to involve her in any of this. Even just telling someone was bad. Information like that could get her in trouble somewhere down the line. But knowing was better than not knowing. Augh, there was so much to think about!

I guess for now, I wouldn’t tell her. But if push came to shove, I’d tell her and just accept whatever she said. The walk to school was rather quick and when I get there, I notice that Uryu isn’t even in his seat. Sado stands, approaching me and beckons me into the hallway.

“Do you know?” Is the first thing out his mouth, “About… Rukia, I mean.”

I nod slowly, looking around to make sure nobody’s around. “Yeah, I showed up a little too late.” I look up at him, eyebrow raised, “How do you know?” Did Inoue ever talk to Sado before they began their training with Yoruichi? I don't think so, hell, I don’t even think Ichigo found out about everyone going until the last second. That wasn’t happening this time around, I was going to make sure of that.

“Last night I went to go check out what that feeling was and I ran into Uryu.” Sado explained, “He told me everything and said he wasn’t coming to school today.”

I put my hand underneath my chin, thinking. Uryu must already be training. Though I found it odd that he would just outright tell Sado what happened. Uryu never seemed to be the sharing type. I shook it away. I don’t know what he was planning to do, since Urahara didn’t get a chance to speak with him last night about potentially going to the Soul Society. “Sado…” I finally say, looking up at him, “…What do you want to do about it?”

He seems surprised by my question and takes a minute, so I decide to go on speaking, “I’ve already decided what I’m going to do.” He looks back to me, obviously waiting for me to elaborate. “…Urahara has a way for us to get to where Rukia is. And I’m going.”

He seems to process this before nodding. “I-I’m not forcing you to go or make a decision. W-We have ten days… ten days to get stronger and ten days to decide whether you want to come or not.” I quickly tell him. “We… We won’t blame you if you don’t want to come.” I wasn’t going to force Sado to do anything he didn’t want to do, but my mind was made up. If he wanted to go, then by all means, but I had to figure out a way to compensate for his loss if he didn’t want to go.

If things went as they should, I would have Ichigo and Uryu to back me up, even if Sado didn’t go.

“I’ll… think about it.” Sado says. I notice that he didn't bother asking who ‘we’ were. He probably guessed it was me and Ichigo, if anything. We enter the classroom and take our seats.

“Hey…” Tatsuki nudges me. I blink, looking over at her. “You alright? You didn’t answer my texts last night.”

“Y-Yeah, sorry… my phone was dead.” I lied, “And I forgot to charge it, so I didn’t bring it.” She nods, looking me over. “What? Something on my face?”

“That hairstyle looks nice on you, Hoshiko.” Tatsuki pinches my cheek, “It makes you look… more mature. I’m diggin’ it more than the twin tails.”

“Hey, I _liked_ the twin tails!” I pout, crossing my arms, “But thanks, I decided I needed a change anyway. I feel like something is going to happen.”

Tatsuki only smiles, “Ah, looks like I can’t ruffle your hair that easily anymore.” Ichigo comes into the classroom, looking no worse for wear, as if he hadn’t been practically dead last night. I catch his eye slightly, but turn back to Tatsuki who is talking about her break plans.

“…dad wants to go visit relatives.” She runs a hand through her hair, “So I’ll only have one day to hang out with you.” She groans, flopping over her desk.

I pat her on the back, frowning. “Well, it’s alright. I’ll find some way to amuse myself while you’re gone.” Tatsuki sighs dramatically, shaking her head.

“If I’m gonna be bored, I’d rather be bored with my best friend, you know? We could just veg out on the couch or something.” I wish we could do that Tatsuki, but I had something to do this break. Maybe next time.

“Well, let’s make that one day count, huh? We should go see the fireworks show!” I suggest, nudging her.

“Yeah… we could do that…” She agrees as Ochi-sensei comes in, slamming her clipboard onto the desk.

“Summer break is upon us!” She yells, “Now if you make it through this day easy, we’ll have nothing to worry about! Let’s get started!”

The day passes at a pace quicker than I’m actually comfortable with. I had wished it went a little slower, considering at the end of the day, break was starting and shit was about to get real. I was going to be preparing to head to the Soul Society and I could potentially lose my life if things went astray too much. The ordeal, much like everything that had happened up till now, was starting to get fuzzy. The only details I could remember in clear detail were Ichigo’s fights with Byakuya and Aizen’s betrayal after faking his death. Other than that, everything was fuzzy and I couldn’t remember if there was anything I needed to watch out for.

I shook it from my thoughts. I would just have to bite the bullet and handle things as they came. With the end of the day coming so quickly, Ochi-sensei stood at the front as the minutes ticked down. It was so... weird, being here without Rukia. I caught Ichigo glancing at the desk she used to sit in more than once and found myself, too, looking at it. Nobody had mentioned her name at all. All traces of Kuchiki Rukia had been wiped clean. There was nothing left of her, not even a paper with her name on it. It only made me wonder... everything that we had been through, I wouldn't have remembered it if I hadn't been... well, how I am. It was crazy to think you could just forget a person all together. I shivered at the thought.

“Alright… all of you, I wanna see you all back here in September, ready to learn! Don’t die before you get back! Dis…missed!”

Half the class all but ran to the door, leaving only a couple of students in the classroom, me and Tatsuki being two of them. “I gotta get going otherwise I’d walk with you.” I can’t remember where Tatsuki was going, but I nod, pulling her in for a hug before she leaves. “See ya, Hoshi.” She punches my arm before leaving and I turn to watch Ichigo smack Keigo over the head with a stick.

“Yikes…” I comment as Michiru and Chizuru come over. The latter grabs me, hugging me tightly.

“Oh, Hoshiko-chan!” Chizuru whines loudly, “I wish to spend summer break with you, but sadly… my father’s demanding we all go out to our waterfront property in the tropics right after I get out!” She dramatically falls into my arms.

“There's a limo outside!” A few students are pressed up against the window.

“Oh!” Chizuru gasps, “There's my ride! I really wish you could go, Hoshiko-chan! You look so cute, I wish I could have you lounging on the beach in a cute bathing suit!”

“Oh, I forgot you were rich.” I comment offhandedly. “I’d love to go with you, but I also have summer break plans.” Chizuru’s family was insanely rich—her dad was some bigwig attorney for a huge company, so they were pretty much loaded. It was a wonder why she went here instead of some more posh school.

“Have a nice summer break, Hoshiko.” Michiru smiled at me. “I wanted to hang out, but I’m going up north to visit family…” She didn’t look too happy about it, however, “Maybe I’ll get that cross-stitch down.” For the sake of all of us, let’s hope this girl gets this cross-stitch down. I’m rootin’ for ya.

“I hope you guys have good summer breaks too, okay?” I untangle myself from Chizuru and wave to Michiru, grabbing my bag. “Pass it on to Ryo and Mahana for me, okay? Toodles~!”

“Toodles to you too, my sweet!” Chizuru waves wildly as I leave. I’m trying to catch up to Ichigo, I want to see how he’s doing since he practically got his ass handed to him on the finest of concrete platters last night.

I find him on the stairs as he’s heading towards his house and run up behind him, tapping his shoulder and pulling on his ear. “Inoue…” He greets before he turns around to face me. “…What is it?”

“Soul Society. Early August, you, me, potentially Sado, possibly Uryu.” I toss out the details, “How’s it sound?”

“So, you know, huh?” He sighs, sitting down on the steps. “Who told you? That bastard Urahara?” I flick his forehead, sitting down next to him. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Only I can call him that. You just better stick to hat-and-sandals or Urahara.” I tell him. I sober up a little, nodding slightly, “But yeah. I showed up at that place last night but you were passed out and losing more blood than you should have. …And in the morning, I saw you in an _interesting_ position with Tessai-san.”

“I swear, if you tell anybody…”

“Relax! Who is gonna believe me?” I snort, pushing against him, “I mean, with how straight-laced Tessai-san looks? The only thing that would give it away is _your_ reaction.”

Despite everything I thought Ichigo would do, he chuckles. “Yeah, I guess.” We’re silent for another minute when Ichigo turns to look at me. “You… really want to go?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I stand up, adopting a hero stance, “ _Rukia’s my friend an’ I’m not gonna let them do somethin’ like that to her_ _! Friendship and good morals!_ ” I make my voice deep like Ichigo’s, “That’s you, by the way.”

“Wha—I do _not_ sound like that!” Ichigo stands up, protesting. “And I’ve never stood like that either!”

“How do you know? And I’ve been told that my impression of you is great!” I stand on my tip-toes to match his height, “You probably stand like that all the time, don’t even notice. _‘My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami and I’ve only got one mean-looking face nya nya nya’_ !” I put my hands on my hips, moving around like a chicken. Ichigo’s cheeks burn in embarrassment, “ _Hey asshole, I'm gonna kick your butt!_ ”

“Oh, you wanna play that? Okay, well you’re like this then!” Ichigo taps my shoulder and pulls my ear, his voice taking on a higher pitch. _“‘My name is Inoue Hoshiko and all I do is beat people up and laugh when they fall. A-And I laugh like a cow’!”_

“I do _not_ laugh like a cow!” I gasp out, hitting Ichigo’s arm.

“Well it doesn’t sound human, that’s for damn sure!” Ichigo yells back. We glare at each other before I can feel laughter bubbling up in my throat, before I know it, I’m laughing and it’s surprising, but Ichigo is laughing too. Guess he _does_ have a sense of humor somewhere in there.

 _“S-See!”_ He laughs, pointing at me, “L-Like a cow!”

“Sh-Shut up!” I yell, hitting him on the arm again. “You… You laugh like a—like a _butthead_!” Our laughter dies down some and I feel a little better, despite the situation we’re about to face.

“Wow, what an insult.” Ichigo deadpans, though there’s a smile on his face. “I’m _actually_ hurt.”

“Yeah, you’ll get over it.” I sigh, letting my laughter fade out completely. "So, you never answered my question, Kurosaki."

“…Are you really going to go with me?” Ichigo asks, looking me over. I nod, staring at him with what I hope is determination in my gaze.

"I wouldn't say that just for shits and giggles, Kurosaki." I dryly reply, "C'mon, I can handle myself."

“Well… I guess it won’t be bad to have you around. As long as you can protect yourself.” Ichigo finally relents with a sigh. "I won't be able to watch your back all the time, Inoue."

“Do you _not_ remember me manhandling you after you fought that giant hollow or was that just a fever dream?” I  remind him, frowning.

“N-No, I remember…” Ichigo scratches the back of his head. “I was _trying_ to forget…”

“Well, there’s your answer.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Kurosaki, I already know it’s going to be dangerous, but you can’t talk me out of it. Rukia’s my friend too, so I’m going and you can’t stop me. Besides, Urahara already said yes.”

“Of course he did..." Ichigo sighs, running a hand through his hair. "You know, Inoue...” Ichigo turns away from me, facing the sun, “You’re… a lot different than I thought you’d be.” He shakes his head and sighs once more, “Inoue… thanks.”

“Well I haven’t done anything yet!” I retort, throwing my hands up.

“I needed to calm down and talking with you really helped me out.” Ichigo turns to look at me, placing a hand on my head. What was up with people and doing this? I absolutely hated it. Well, at least he didn't ruffle my hair. Ichigo smiles at me and I blush, looking away. “So, really, thank you.”

“I-It’s whatever…” I stutter. Fucking hell, I hate when people give me heartfelt compliments. God Dammit Ichigo, you’re lowkey like Urahara. “A-Anyway, don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Yeah,” Ichigo finally nods, “I guess I’ll see you later then, Inoue.”

“You bet!” I wave as he takes off down the stairs, turning to see Sado walking down the steps. “Hey, Sado.” I greet him casually as he comes to stand in front of me.

“I… I’ve been thinking about it all day.” Sado begins, “And I’ve decided that if Ichigo is going to go… then I have to go. We both know he’s pretty reckless.”

“Yeah, Kurosaki and reckless are pretty synonymous from the tales I’ve heard.” I scratch my cheek. “Well, glad to have you on board.” Ichigo was pretty important to Sado, since they fought for each other, kind of like I did for Tatsuki that day. Rukia was my friend, so I was going for Rukia, but he was going for Ichigo—which made sense, sure, Sado knew Rukia, but he didn’t know her like I knew her. They were at best, a friend of a friend towards each other.

“Then we’re going to have to train.” I tell him, “That power you have probably won’t be able to be used just overnight.”

“So then, what should we do?” Sado asks me, and I’m at a loss. I don’t know when or how we meet our new ‘teacher’, so for now, I have to figure out some kind of plan in order to get us to start training.

“Well…” I finally speak, tapping my chin, “I… have no idea. Maybe we can find an old warehouse and you can punch things until your power comes back?”

“I think it’s going to take more than that, you know.” A smooth, masculine voice spoke up and just like that, my prayers are answered when a black cat literally drops out of the sky. “Well, hello.” The cat speaks and Sado screams, much more high-pitched that I thought his low baritone could get.

* * *

When Sado wakes up after his tumble down the steps, I’m already acquainted with the cat. Yoruichi, who has just informed me that she is Urahara’s best friend, walks around me, surveying me. “You’re much different than I expected.” She comments, finally coming to sit in front of me. “From the way Urahara ranted and raved about you, I had expectations.”

“Have I met them?” I instead ask, watching the cat as Sado sits up.

“And then some.” Yoruichi says, her tail swaying from side to side. “I’m glad you’re awake now, Sado.” She looks pointedly at him. Sado seems to still be on edge at Yoruichi’s talking but only nods at the cat. I don’t know why he’d be on edge since he literally was decimating hollow left and right the other day and they were much scarier than this.

“I heard you’re both in need of some training…” Yoruichi swishes their tail from side to side, surveying the two of us. “And… I was thinking maybe I could help?”

“How can a talking cat possibly help us?” Sado asks.

I nudge him, “How could a talking cat _not_ help us? He’s a talking cat, Sado. Obviously, this is for the best.” Sado looks to me and it’s clear he wants to protest, but instead he just sighs, nodding. “Looks like we’re all on board now!”

“Well, not quite.” Yoruichi replies, “The Quincy… Uryu, was it?” I nod, “We should probably speak to him about this as well.” Yoruichi was probably right. Even though I’d said to Ichigo that Uryu might be going, there was no way to really know. What if my being here put him off to going entirely? Then there would only be three of us going and Uryu was a valuable asset.

From what I remember, he would get me—well, Inoue—out of a lot of trouble when we got there, so he needed to come along, if I had to drag him kicking and screaming. “This will be your first test,” Yoruichi tells us, “Search out Uryu’s reiatsu and lead me to him.” I was sure Yoruichi knew where Uryu was, but as the cat said, this was testing our abilities. Sado looked to me and I put my hand on my chin. Despite my trainings with Urahara, he had only really trained me in hand-to-hand combat and told me about reiatsu in theory.

He hadn’t really explained how to use it much, but I was naturally getting the gist of it, just being around them, as everyone had their own, distinct reiatsu and it seemed that once I was exposed to it, I could figure out who was around just be sensing them, however slight. Maybe I was just really privy to reiatsu, sensitive to it in a sense, seeing as I could tell minute differences in it, even with little training. I knew vaguely of Uryu’s reiatsu from the other night and from the Menos Grande attack, so it wouldn’t be that hard to find him, right?

I picked through the Urahara shop workers’ reiatsu, putting it on the backburner and felt Ichigo’s slightly diminished reiatsu. He was probably getting worked out by Ururu by now. “He’s kind of far away,” I inform them after a few moments.

“Do you know exactly how far?” Yoruichi asks, and I’m sure the look on my face tells them that I didn’t even know people could tell such exact things. The cat sighs as much as a cat can and paws at her face, “Fine, lead the way.”

It wasn’t hard to follow Uryu’s reiatsu signature, since he wasn’t exactly keeping it quiet. He was, more than likely, training, so it would be easy to find him. When we get to where his signature is the biggest, it’s a forest area and all we can hear is the waterfall. Along the bank is Uryu, who is dressed casually.

“Watch this…” I nudge Sado and look to Yoruichi. I then cup my hands around my mouth, “U-RY- _U_!” I shout, making the boy miss his target by a mile. His energy arrow dissolves completely upon touching the water. He grunts, glaring in our direction, though it softens upon seeing us. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“I’m almost 100% certain that I’m older than you,” Uryu comments as he comes over to us. “But what does it look like?”

“Let's be honest, Uryu. You really shouldn't be mean to me... or did you forget that I can beat you up?" Uryu looks away and I smirk, "But, I'm feeling nice today, so I'll let it go. Yoruichi wants to know if you wanna train with us.” I point to the cat. “This is Yoruichi.” Uryu looks at the two of us like we’re crazy before Yoruichi clears their throat.

“A pleasure, Uryu.” The cat’s deep voice nearly knocks Uryu off the rock he’d been standing on, if it hadn’t been for Sado’s quickness.

“T-Talking…” Uryu’s eyes are wide and I sigh, shaking my head.

“C’mon, you kill large, grotesque monsters on the daily and a talking cat freaks you out?” I tilt my head, “You guys are so weak.”

“Men are very simple-minded and inadequate creatures.” Yoruichi replies and I raise my hand, nodding with the cat’s words.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” I chuckle as Uryu clears his throat.

“You said something about training?” Uryu is quick to steer the topic back on track.

I nod, looking to Yoruichi who speaks up. “As I’m sure you’ve guessed, in the aftermath of the one called Kuchiki Rukia being arrested for treason... Kurosaki has already started his training, and if you’re all to go with him to the Soul Society, then you need to train as well. These two have… for the most part, agreed. What about you, Uryu? I am a very formidable teacher.”

“Thank you,” Uryu begins, “But I’ll have to respectfully decline. My training… I must do it alone.”

“Is this one of those _‘I can’t let anyone see… my... secret power!’_ type deals?” I question, making a motion as if I had a cape and searching Uryu’s face for an answer, “Because you’re just as lame as Kurosaki and his poses of deep and compassionate friendship.”

Uryu sputters, blushing, “I-It may very well be! If-If you understand, then you’ll know why I must train alone!”

“Aw, but that’s no fun.” I pout, crossing my arms, “We could’ve been the three amigos! We could have had something special, Uryu! We could've had dessert! Now all we have is the appetizer, the main course and drinks!”

"I... I'm sorry?" Uryu tilts his head to the side. "I... should I be sorry?"

"Very sorry! Tell him, Sado, Yoruichi-san!" I gesture for the two.

"You're bad and you should feel bad about it." Sado says.

“It’s fine how it is, Hoshiko.” Yoruichi puts her paw on my lap, “If Uryu would like to train on his own, we can’t force him to train with us.”

“You know what, Uryu? It's fine. You don't have to come. You're just going to miss out on hanging out with the best person ever... and Sado and a talking cat. And you know what else? I’ll make us _lunches_.” I pick the cat up, nudging Sado. “See you, Uryu. You better be stronger than you were before. Or else.”

“That’s not going to be a hard promise to keep.” Uryu stands up, waving as we go.

“I guess it’s just us,” Sado says when we’re heading back down the trail we’d walked to get here. “What will you have us doing, Yoruichi-san?”

“Hopefully nothing like running.” I frown, looking down at the cat. “I’m not a fan of running, you know.”

“So I’ve been told.” Yoruichi chuckles, “But no, this is purely power-usage training. This whole excursion took most of the day.” I look up, seeing that the sun is starting to set. “So tomorrow, we’ll meet by those steps so that the two of you can begin your training.”

“Sounds good to me.” I agree, dropping the cat once we’ve reached the city limits.

“Rest up, because I’m going to be pushing you hard tomorrow.” Yoruichi tells us before running away and disappearing, leaving me and Sado alone.

Sado turns to me. “Things are… really picking up like you said.”

“I hope you’re ready for it… by the way, Sado,” I poke him on the arm, “I _am_ making lunches for us. Is there anything in particular you want?”

Sado seems surprised by my question. I was dead serious when I said I was making lunch. You had to eat to help you gain reiatsu anyway, it was just a known fact and plus, I wasn’t going to just go out somewhere with no food. I wasn’t crazy. “I… don’t like tomatoes.” He finally uttered.

“Me either.” I tell him, smiling. “Okay, nothing with tomatoes, I’ll remember that. I’ll see you tomorrow then, Sado.” Sado grunts out a reply and the two of us part, him going to catch the bus and me taking my time walking back home.

I needed to think and doing something like walking would allow me to do so.

The Soul Society, the next part was finally upon us. Only about twenty some-odd days until we left. Would we be ready in time? From what I vaguely recall, Uryu was ready and Sado was… somewhat ready. Ichigo was, and he would only continue to get stronger as time went on in the Soul Society. Me, however…

Inoue was the weakest in the group, and I was going to change that… _somehow_ . I was going to be stronger and reliable from the start. Urahara told me that I was stronger than Ichigo a while back, but that was before he finally received his _own_ Shinigami powers. Being stronger than the old Ichigo was nothing to be excited about. I had to be as strong, or even stronger than the new Ichigo that was going to come out of this training with slightly more control over his powers.

I wasn’t going to sit idly by and let Uryu handle everything once we got to the Soul Society. No, I was going to make a name for myself too and get much, much stronger. I just… had to find a way to do that. I already had some kind of advantage over Inoue—I wasn’t exactly weak-willed and faint of heart—I’d hurt some damn body if I really needed to.

The more I thought of what Uryu and I would encounter on our tour-de-Soul Society, the more I couldn’t remember. There was something I had to look out for, but I really could not remember what it was. I decided not to dwell on it since I had training tomorrow and despite all things, I knew I was going to have to get up early to go running because I couldn’t do anything without running first. Damn Urahara for programming me like this…

I had to put my all into my training so that I could contend with the others, and that meant I couldn’t slack on my katas either. I had to do everything to ensure that we didn’t get into much trouble when we got there—well, canon diverging trouble anyway.

Could I do this? No, at this point, it wasn’t _‘could I do this’_ it was more… _‘I need to do this’_. I was way past the point of doubt and despite my jitters, I knew I couldn’t back down now. I talked a lot of shit and I had to own up to it. I couldn’t abandon Ichigo and the others. Despite everything, I knew those boys needed me and I knew Rukia needed me too. Don’t worry, Rukia, just hold on a little longer, okay?

We’re coming for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao I stole Hoshiko's new hairstyle from another anime. It's Joke, anyone? 
> 
> Would y'all be interested if I started a tumblr so you can ask Hoshiko some questions and hear her dumb answers and also, my dumb answers.


	13. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko and Sado begin their training and Hoshiko seems a lot smarter than she is. Don’t be fooled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Sado bc he just goes along with everything. He's not stoic, he's just quiet and a goof. The type o man Hoshiko need tbh
> 
> Seems like I'm uploading every week or smth. Is it too often ??? am I lettin' y'all stew enough ???

 

The next morning when I leave my house to go running, Ururu and Jinta are at my door, surprisingly. “We’re here to go running with you.” Ururu informs me. I pat her on the head before moving to tie my hair up into a ponytail. I had to get Tessai-san to do my hair that way again before we left. 

“Urahara doesn’t have anything for you to do at the shop?” The sun has barely risen into the sky and yet the two look as if they’ve been awake for the whole night. They both seem kind of tired, maybe Urahara had them working on something last night? Good thing he didn’t call me since he knows he’d hear an earful of it. Ururu shrugs, looking to Jinta. “Or were you just bored?”

“That boy is in the hole and Urahara says not to bother him yet.” Jinta comments, “But Ururu kicked the shit out of him yesterday.” I grin at the girl, ruffling her hair again as I turn, looking my door. The three of us begin jogging.

“You said he hurt your friend, so I had to get him back for you.” Ururu explains quietly. I feel like Ururu was just using that as an excuse because she couldn’t readily beat Jinta up since he was just as strong as she was, maybe slightly weaker, but not by much. And Ururu didn’t beat me up as often anymore, since I could take a couple of her hits before I fought back, so she probably needed some fresh meat.

“Well, thank you, Ururu. When you guys finally go back, torment him some more. He deserves it.”

“What are you doing today, Hoshiko?” Jinta asks, “Is that cat really training you?”

“Yeah, Yoruichi is training me and Sado.” I look from Jinta to Ururu, “So I’m gonna be training with Yoruichi for now. We’re supposed to meet later… at… well, I guess I’ll just go wait at the steps after we finish this jog.” It only hits me now that Yoruichi only said we meet ‘tomorrow’ she never said when. I wonder what Sado is going to do, and it’s not like I can contact him, seeing as I don’t have his phone number, and using Ichigo as a midway between us wouldn’t work either, since he was preoccupied with trying to get his powers back.

“Hmph, if I went, I’d  _ totally _ dust everybody there!” Jinta boats, puffing out his chest. I roll my eyes, chuckling at his display. Ever the tough-guy, this one.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s why you’re not going.” I laugh, “You’re too tough, there’d be nobody left for us to fight! Everyone would cower at the prospect of fighting Hanakari-sama!” I throw a hand over my forehead dramatically.

“I wonder what it’s like there.” Ururu speaks up. From what I vaguely recall, the Soul Society is pretty much all colors white and gray. Pretty standard and clean looking—well, the Seireitei is. The other parts are… pretty dirty. Kind of like the slums that nobody wants to look at. But the people, I guess, are happy there. And they should be, since they don’t often get involved in Seireitei problems. Hell, living here in the Human World, we were more involved in Seireitei problems than they ever would be.

“Probably pretty sterile.” I finally say, looking ahead, “When we get back, I’ll fill you guys in on everything I did.”

“If you fight some really tough guys, you better win.” Jinta pinches my arm. I smack him back on his arm, inciting a small fight with the boy. We end up on the ground, wrestling while Ururu stands by and watches. Finally, after some hair pulling and him punching me in the side, I manage to get Jinta face down in the dirt while I sit on top of him.

“Yeah, winning shouldn’t be too big a problem.” I grunt out, getting off of him. “I mean, I kicked your ass easy, didn’t I?” Jinta grunts, standing up and dusting himself off.

“Yeah, whatever…” He finally mumbles. The three of us continue jogging and aside from that, there’s nothing of interest to note. The sun is already up in the sky when I return and I quickly shower, changing into another tracksuit and preparing the lunch that I said I was going to. I don’t know if Yoruichi eats cat food, and I don’t have any, so she's gonna get a sandwich like the rest of us. Packing everything into a bag that I’d found in the closet, I leave the house and head towards the steps around ten in the morning.

It’s been a couple of hours and my memory is fuzzy, but I’m wondering what both Ichigo and Rukia are doing. Rukia’s probably still in her cell. Maybe Renji was taunting her. Which reminded me, I wanted to fight him, actually. Well, not fight him, but just… deck him in the face. He hurt my friends and I wasn’t about it. Ichigo was... probably still in the hole like Ururu and Jinta had said. As I arrive at the steps, I see Yoruichi sitting there with Sado.

“Well, gee.” I make my presence known, “Sorry I’m late.” The two look over to me and Sado stands, looking grateful for my appearance. “I was making lunch.” I hold up the bag.

“Well, let’s get going, we don’t have time to waste.” Yoruichi leads us all the way to the other side of town, close to where we’d gone to see Uryu and into a large, abandoned building. It doesn’t look to be a warehouse, as there’s different levels, all with windows lining them. It seems more like an old office building, with wide, open spaces. Yoruichi leads us to the third floor where she finally stops, perching on an old desk.

“This place looks hit.” I comment, spinning around to look at everything. “What happened here?”

“How should I know?” Yoruichi licks her paw, staring at us. “I won’t waste any time now. Can you two summon your powers?”

I hadn’t brought the fairies out in a few days, not since we had that conversation on the day of Rukia’s departure. I knew it was possible to do so, but I wasn’t even sure how I managed to get them out. I guess it was my desire to ask them something that brought them out. The question was, how long could I keep them out. That day, they were out for a couple of hours and as the time went by, it was easier to keep them out, my reiatsu was suddenly getting used to supporting their forms, and by the end of it, I could feel that I used at least half of what I did the first times I summoned them out.

I guess that was a goal for me, to summon them and keep them out for extended periods of time without burning up too much reiatsu. But then again, I guess it wouldn’t really matter, since I was going to try to keep this as business as possible. I didn’t want to use the fairies more than I had to. 

“If you can do so,” Yoruichi calls out, breaking me from my thoughts, “You should do so now.”

Sado and I glance at each other. I’m sure Sado was in the same predicament—he probably hadn’t been able to summon his powers since that day either. “Okay,” I speak up after the two of us are quiet for a long stretch of time, “I’ll go first.”

I step forward, pressing my hands to my hairpins, “Hairpin power!  _ Activate _ !” I flick my hands out, gesturing wildly. And nothing happened, just as I was expecting. Okay, now it was time to improvise. “Go! Hairpin power! Go! Shun Shun Rikka! Start!” 

A few more attempts of this and Sado joins in. “Arm power! Let’s  _ get it _ ! C’mon, let’s go!” He starts flexing, thrusting his arm out while I keep tapping my hairpins and doing my own poses. “Huuuu-ah! By the power of Gray skull! C’mon, arm power!  _ Poner la pilas _ !”

“In the name of my hairpins! I declare you to work your power!” I throw out my arms again. One of these rip-offs have to work. “Moon Prism Hairpin Power! Make up!”

“Pretty Cure, Arm Charge! Go-Go Power Rangers!” Sado is still flexing to my left and a look up at Yoruichi tells me that she’s almost 100% done with our antics. "Sana, sana colita de rana!"

“Hairpinmon digivolve to…  _ Shun Shun Rikkamon _ !”

“Okay! Okay!  _ Stop _ !” Yoruichi puts her paw onto her face, similar to a face palm. “Oh… my god…” She stands, pointing her paw at us. “Who are you two, The Blunder Twins?”

“Actually, it’s the Wonder Twi—!”

“I  _ know _ what it is!” Yoruichi cuts me off, glaring as best a cat can. “Let’s try this again.  _ Without _ the catchphrases and poses, please.” Yoruichi adds as Sado and I move to make more poses. “How about we go around the room and tell each other how we felt upon using our powers when we first got them?”

“But you’re a  _ cat _ …” Sado tilts his head, “Unless you’re going to tell us how it felt to first start talking…”

I’m going to be quite honest with you, I didn’t know Sado could be this funny, but this boy is  _ hilarious _ and he must be protected. Either he knows what he’s doing or he’s actually just clueless. Either way, it’s hilarious and I’m enjoying this training session thoroughly. I stifle my snickers and look to Sado, who is smirking slightly. I’m guessing he does know what he’s doing.

“I meant you two, not me!” Yoruichi looks to be just about done with us. “Why did I agree to this…”

“Urahara is a hard man to say no to.” I nod, crossing my arms, “But okay, let me try  _ one _ more catchphrase and then I’ll do your friendship and feelings exercise, okay?”

“No! No more catchphrases!” Yoruichi waves her paw. I frown, sighing.

“Okay, fine. No more catchphrases.” I repeat, “… The power of love and friendship will guide me through!” I still wanted a least one more dorky catchphrase. Yoruichi groans in clear annoyance, but she can't help but be surprised.

My dumb catchphrase? It actually works. Yoruichi sits there, wide-eyed with her mouth open. “H-How…?”

“Well,” I tap my chin, looking at Tsubaki and the others. Sado studies them and I realize this is the first chance he’s had to see them all, seeing as he only saw Tsubaki, and barely that. “I just wanted to spite you since you said no more catchphrases. To be honest, I didn’t think it was going to work.”

I guess I had been unconsciously thinking of Sora and Tatsuki, which helped bring them out, judging by the look on Shun’o’s face after what I just said. But I wanted Yoruichi to believe I’d summoned them with a corny catchphrase. The look on her face was  _ completely _ worth it. I look to Sado, “By the power of Gray skull? Really?”

“…I like to do my homework at three in the morning and they play old American cartoons at that time.” Sado looked away, obviously blushing.

“Okay, Sado,” Yoruichi moved on to Sado, “Can you summon yours? Preferably  _ without _ a corny catchphrase and pose?”

“Hey, princess.” Tsubaki yanks on my side bangs. I yelp, slapping him away, but missing each time. “Why are we out?”

“We’re gonna train!” I inform him, “We’re going to Soul Society soon, so we have to be prepared for anything. I’ll fill you in on all the details later, but for now, we have to practice!” 

“Tch, I don’t need to train…” Tsubaki crosses his arms, “Seriously, you woke me up in the middle of a nap for this?”

“A nap? You sound like an old man.” Tsubaki’s face lit up in a dark blush as the other fairies laughed at him. “Besides, don’t you like beating things up? This is the perfect opportunity!” Tsubaki flies at me, pulling my hair again and I grunt, “Tsubaki! Stop being mean!” A large outward expulsion of reiatsu stops us from arguing and I turn, seeing Sado finally summon his power.

A dark liquid like substance—which I can only describe as similar to the Venom costume Spiderman 3—covers Sado’s entire right arm, solidifying into some sort of armor. The armor is black, white and magenta in color, with the white and magenta being a stripe down the length of his arm and ended at the tips of his middle and ring finger. There are two wing-like things sticking out on both sides of his wrist and the top, near his shoulder fans out into a fork shape.

“Holy shit.” I breathe out. This is the first time I’ve been able to see it clearly since that day and it looks really cool. “That’s  _ really _ cool, Sado.” Sado tests out his arm movement by flexing his fingers and moving his arm. “But I give it a B.” Yoruichi looks to me and I shrug, “No catchphrase. Everybody needs a catchphrase.”

“Good work, the two of you.” Yoruichi decides to let my comment go, not bothering to respond to it. “The goal of today was to get you to summon your powers, which you managed to do in less time than I’d thought. Even though you both spent thirty minutes screaming out catchphrases… We’re making good progress, I believe.”

“So, what’s next?” I ask, “Since we’re the Prodigal Children and did your task in a quicker time than you thought, what can we do now?”

“Hold it.” Yoruichi simply says, “I want you to spend the rest of the day here, holding your power for as long as you can. If you lose it, summon it again and keep holding it. The longer you do so, the easier the strain is on your body and the less reiatsu you use.”

Since this was my goal anyway, I only nodded. I was just a little bit ahead of Sado, since I had managed to summon the Shun Shun Rikka once after the initial time. And I’d kept them out for a while, so I had that over him. “Okay,” Sado says after a while, “Seems easy enough.” He flexes his arm once more and sits down on the floor. 

So, we wait. We’re all pretty quiet while we wait. The fairies aren’t talking much and Sado has turned to his phone, probably going through his messages or something. I take to walking the length of the floor that we’re on and an hour passes… then two and we eat… then three and I can’t take this anymore.

I didn’t have the patience of a saint, you know. I wander back over, sighing heavily and dropping into a kneeling position, leaning heavily on the table. “Ah, Yoruichi, this is boring! This is going really slow; can’t we do something else? Kurosaki is probably fighting something and we’re just sitting here… holding our powers.” I swing my arms as an idea comes to me. I stand up, turning to Sado. “Sado, fight me.”

“What?” He seems surprised, “What do you mean ‘fight you’?”

“You’ve seen me—I ain’t that weak. C’mon, let’s spar or something.” I look to Yoruichi to see if she has any objections, but when the cat merely licks herself, I turn back to Sado, “Just, uh, don’t use that arm. I may get smacked around by an overpowered eleven-year-old girl, but I don’t think I could handle whatever you might unknowingly dish out with that.”

Reluctantly, Sado agrees and drops into a fighting stance, with his arm behind his back. 

I think this will work out perfectly. See, my theory is that we use a lot of reiatsu because we’re thinking about the power and how to properly maintain it and use it. So, we pour more energy into maintaining it than we actually  _ need _ , because forming it at first takes a lot of Reiryoku to do. And we—at least in my case—think that trying to do anything else would result in it losing form and disappearing, or even becoming unstable due to the amount of Reiryoku poured into it that turns into reiatsu. 

_ But _ , if we maintain it  _ and _ divide our attention between it and something else, we unconsciously use the correct amount of reiatsu to maintain the power’s outward manifestation because the power is more of an extension of ourselves than its own entity, so it only needs a smaller amount to stay maintained than what we’re giving it. And giving it more reiatsu than it needs is rather wasteful, since it doesn't give any returns, like added ability.

If this works, then it will be so that when we  _ do _ pay attention to using it fully, it’s the bare minimum that we need to use to maintain it/keep it out, almost to the point where summoning it and keeping it out won't cost much, if any reiatsu at all, since it will be more like putting on a thin under layer of clothing, than putting on something like a hazmat suit. 

That way we save Reiryoku to use for other things like attacks and stuff… or, at least, that’s what Urahara told me—and not in so many words, let me tell you. The man was pretty vague, but luckily Tessai-san was a much better teacher with this type of stuff. In Urahara’s case, he must’ve assumed everyone’s brain was wired like his, which it wasn’t.

All in all, it’ll result in better control and more precise delegation of our reiatsu between the power and other things if we really need it. Plus, I know for Sado if he uses the bare minimum to maintain the form, when he actually puts effort into fighting with his arm, his attacks will be all the more devastating, since it will result in a boost much bigger than what he would have had if he was using all his power to maintain the form and fighting like that.

I drop into my own fighting stance, one hand raised and stare at Sado. He’s built like a tank, much more than Ururu and it’ll be hard to find places to hit him. I’d have to stay back for the moment and gauge how fast he was and use it to my advantage. “Okay, let’s go.” I start the match. Neither of us move at first, clearly Sado is reluctant to come after me, but after a few moments, he darts forward, aiming a punch at me, which I easily deflect.

He’s at a disadvantage because he can’t use his right arm. I spin around him, bringing my foot up to kick his back, but it barely does anything aside from make him stumble. Sado was fast, I’ll give him that, but I did have to deal with Urahara going through the katas I needed to learn at a fast speed, so Sado’s movements were just a little too slow. I needed to put more power into my hits or else it was going to be like hitting a brick wall.

Sado turns around, bringing his left arm around in a sweeping motion and as I duck, he moves to sweep my feet. I manage to move just out of his range before entering, slapping his fist away and pushing him back. It’s punch for punch and kick for kick until we break away and I realize I haven’t made much of a dent on Sado, but he hasn’t done much on me yet either.

Sado pants, wiping his forehead. “You’re… pretty quick…” He pants out.

“Same to you…” I respond, running towards him again. I jump, kicking him in the chest, though he blocks with his hand, grabbing my foot and tossing me further away. I’m still not used to flying through the air, so I slam into a couple of cardboard box, coughing as the dust rises and settles.

“C’mon, princess! Do better!” Tsubaki calls from where he and the others are sitting. 

“I’d like to see you try an’ beat him without your power!” I grunt, pushing boxes off of me and looking at Sado. I had to figure out a way to beat him or else my training was for nothing, but what could I do? He was so much bigger than me and he had more experience fighting than I did. With this, I was at a disadvantage.

I look down at my hands, noting my reiatsu pooling around them. It’s pink in color, outlined darkly in red. This was odd, was I unconsciously calling it out to help protect me or something?

We’d only been at this for a few minutes, I think, but I was steadily being able to unconsciously divide my reiatsu between sustaining the Shun Shun Rikka and using it for myself. At this point, the only thing telling me that the Shun Shun Rikka were out of the hairpins was the fact that the hairpins weren't keeping my bangs back. 

My reiatsu coats my hands and I will it back into my body. Slowly, it creeps away from the surface until I’m staring at my hands without the pink-red barrier around it.

Could this work? I hadn’t tried it, but I’d asked Urahara about the theory not too long ago.

See, I got the idea when I was self-pitying about a week or so ago, thinking about what I could do different in order to be a better contender in a fight and it got me thinking. Reiryoku coursed through one’s body like blood. Everyone had Reiryoku, though what separated  _ us _ from the normal people was the fact that our Reiryoku was higher and we were more susceptible to being able to tap into it to use. Reiryoku, as I’d learned from Urahara, had its own pathways within the body, running seemingly parallel to the blood. 

And to fit in with my theory, in essence, one could, coat themselves in reiatsu, making it visible to the eye. And my theory was simple. If I could figure out a way to use Reiryoku  _ inwardly _ do the same thing—well, to inwardly enhance my strength, I could make up for the fact that I wasn’t naturally strong.

Urahara had said that it could be done. He said it was one of the basic things a Shinigami learned, so it wasn’t entirely impossible that I, too, could learn it, since my Reiryoku levels were above that of a normal human. Though I don't think I would ever reach Shinigami levels—considering I still had no idea what spiritual type I was—I could still probably make my own version of it.  _ ‘You can do it, my li’l Hoshiko-chan… it’s like putting on super-powered gloves… only not because it’s Reiryoku ha-ha!’  _ I remember Urahara’s vague words. It was a basic technique that Shinigami could use, but this whole reiatsu-Reiryoku thing was new to me—I hadn’t had the centuries of training they did to easily do it. I had to be smart about this.

And that was hard to do, considering I wasn’t very smart to begin with.

“Hoshiko, are you okay?” Sado calls and I look up, pushing out of the boxes to stand up.

“Yeah, sorry, I was thinking.” I distractedly tell him. I make my hand into a fist and look back at him. 

Okay, if I could do this, it would help me out greatly. I take off, running at Sado and trying to push a good amount of my Reiryoku into my hands and jump. Sado goes to block, but I clasp my hands together and swing at him.

Sado goes straight through the window, to everyone’s surprise. “…holy fuckin’ shit.”

“What was that technique?” Yoruichi jumps down from the table as I run over to the window.

“Hey, we need some of that good ol’  _ Santen Kesshun _ !” I shout, watching Sado hurtle towards the ground. “Baigon, Lily, Hinagiku! Can we get a  _ Santen Kesshun _ , I reject, please!” I call out quickly, focusing my hands on Sado’s falling form. The fairies are quick to move, forming a shield underneath Sado and breaking his fall just in time. I breathe out a sigh of relief, holding my hands in the diamond shape as Yoruichi, the rest of the fairies and I head downstairs.

Sado manages to get off of the shield on his own and we see him standing outside when we finally leave the building. “So… guess I won?” I shrug sheepishly.

“How did you do that?” Sado instead asks, looking me over. “That strength wasn’t anything like what you were doing before.”

“I just… pooled a lot of my Reiryoku into my hands to up my strength.” I tell him, making a fist again, “It’s probably better if I… work on that by myself so I can get the right amount down.”

“Yes, we don’t want Sado through another window.” Yoruichi agrees, looking over the two of us. “Now, how do the two of you feel?”

Sado flexes his fingers and I look to the fairies. “Well, using that  _ Santen Kesshun _ didn’t take as much power as I thought it would.” I confess. “I still feel like I’ve got a lot of spirit energy left.”

“That’s what we’re after.” Yoruichi looks to be grinning. “The easier it is for you to use your powers, the quicker your strengths will grow.” 

“How long has it been?” I look towards the sky, noting that the sun is much lower than it was when we arrived. “Shit, it’s been awhile, huh?”

“We should pick this up tomorrow.” Yoruichi says. “Since you’re coming along so nicely, I think we should do something else tomorrow.”

“Like actually practice or something?” I deadpan, looking at the cat.

“Possibly.” Yoruichi flicks their tail once more, “I want you both to return your powers to their dormant forms for now and tomorrow when you wake up, they’re the first thing you summon—even before your morning bathroom break.”

The fairies all gather in front of me and I smile, “Thanks for your help.” I say to Lily, Baigon and Hinagiku. The three only nods and return to their dormant form. I tap the hairpins, feeling for all the petals and nod, looking over to Sado who is slowly having his arm return to normal.

The three of us split up afterwards, deciding to meet tomorrow around 9 in the morning. Finally, Sado and I exchanged numbers before we leave for the day. I feel… strangely accomplished. Let’s hope tomorrow is just as good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much happens in the way of plot, I think, but it's a training arc chapter, so wat do we expect???? Just some insight from Hoshiko and some from me, trying to build on reiatsu/reiryoku since it's mentioned and never really expanded upon and it should be. I'm sure if you look hard enough, you'll see that I've likened it to Chakra in some ways, but I want it to have it's own identity too, so bear with me while I figure it out all the way.
> 
> So, I finally DID get around to making that tumblar. There ain't much on it in the way that I just started it, but you can go follow it and ask some questions/keep a look out for updates or some lil extras. There may eventually be pictures of Hoshiko (when I can finally commission people to draw homegirl bc I'm a shitty artist) so here it be:
> 
> hoshikonobleach.tumblr.com


	14. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko shows us that Teenage Angst is still a thing & finally gets over herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess Friday/Saturdays are my upload days, huh? As exciting as training is, I’m ready for it to be over. Be prepared, Teenage "why me" Angst Ahead.

When we meet up with Yoruichi the next day, she asks up about our powers and why we thought we got them. I frowned, Sado’s story was probably going to be more meaningful than mine, since my powers were what Inoue’s were supposed to be. Sure, after talking it over with the fairies, I’d resolved to somehow make Inoue’s borrowed power my own, so that I could stop calling it that, but I truly didn’t know why I still had them. The scream was mine, Inoue didn’t have that, and yet here I was, using her power. I shook my head. I had to get over this. What is done is done, and I had to deal with it.

But that was easier said than done.

The fairies themselves seemed more accepting of this than I was. I know I should just let it go, but every time I thought of them, I thought of what could've been—I thought of Inoue and how she just... disappeared and how it was me now. And that was a whole Pandora’s box of insecurities in itself.

I glance over at the fairies, who are lazily flying beside me—well, Hinagiku and Baigon are. Tsubaki rests on my bag while Shun’o and Ayame sit on my head. Lily is marveling at Sado’s arm.

“I… wanted to protect.” Sado clenches his right fist, staring at it, “And I would always protect things with my fists, so I guess it’s a fitting power.” Two expectant pairs of eyes look at me and I blink, looking at Lily, who urges me to speak.

“O-Oh, uh… I dunno.” I scratch the back of my head, “I… well, Tatsuki was in trouble. And I wanted to… help her out. I wanted to shield her from the pain and heal her… but most importantly, I wanted to fight for her.” I find myself saying, looking from Yoruichi to Sado. It was true, I did feel this way and I’m guessing that’s why I still received Inoue’s power. I had to stop calling it that. The power was mine now and I had to act like it. That meant that I had to do more with them.

Yoruichi only hums after we respond and we reach the old building. Just as we move to go inside, something catches my eye. “Ah, you’ve noticed.” Yoruichi seems pretty proud of my observational skills—or maybe of the obstacle course that runs around the back of the building.

The obstacle course is long, and let me tell you, it looks rather complicated. At the beginning, there’s a wall with handholds, obviously meant for climbing over and on the other side, barbed wire, which we probably need to army-crawl underneath. Then there’s something with tall turnstiles, only instead of dull poles, there’s spiky blades attached to them. After that, there’s some sort of moat and a rope swinging over it. Coming up next was some kind of wooden bars, which I had no idea would do. There’s more swinging ropes and something like monkey bars and at the end, there’s another wall, but this one seems different than the first.

“What is all this?” I ask, dropping my bag and hearing Tsubaki grunt at the sudden drop. “Er, sorry ‘Baki.”

“Don’t call me that!” Tsubaki grunts, flying up next to my face.

Yoruichi walks in front of us and sits down, somehow using their tail to gesture towards the course. “This… is your next training exercise.” Yoruichi explains, “You’re doing much better than originally thought… I thought I was going to have to keep having you try over and over to call out your powers, but from how you’re maintaining them now… I can see that that step is unneeded.”

“But… how?” Sado asks and everything about his voice, posture and look screams confused.

“How what?” Yoruichi seems to raise an eyebrow, “What’s wrong, Sado? Don’t know how to use an obstacle course?”

“How… did you make this?” Sado looks pointedly at Yoruichi. “You are just a cat. How did you set all of this up?”

“Yoruichi probably got someone with opposable thumbs to do it.” I nudge him, “Probably Urahara.” Sado nods, seeming to understand and we turn back to Yoruichi.

“You two…” Yoruichi breathes out, calming herself and looks at us, “This obstacle course will help increase your powers—I want you to go through the obstacle course using your powers.” The two of us look at each other before nodding and Sado pushes me forward.

“Why can’t you go first?” I turn to look at him and he shrugs.

“You’re kind of the leader here.” Sado replies, “You lead by example and I admire you.” Wow, Sado really had a way with words—I was going to fight him later for making me do this. Damn him, he had to know that I was so susceptible to agreeing to things after you’ve complimented me!

“You just don’t want to go first.” I narrow my eyes at him and he looks away from me. I sigh, stepping up to the first wall. “Okay, well, I guess I am going first.” I grab ahold of one of the lower handholds and pull myself up. How can I use my powers with this? Maybe a shield? I decide to wait until I’m higher up to use it, since it would be easier to do. Climbing is pretty hard, I slip more than once and almost fall a couple of times.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I yell after hearing Yoruichi’s snickers from down below. Glad that someone was enjoying this. I’m about halfway up the wall when I decide that it’s high time I use my powers.

“Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily…  _Santen Kesshun_ , I reject!” I focus my free hand just below me and the three form a shield below me, which I step onto, taking a break.

_“Hey… Hoshiko?”_  Lily’s voice enters my mind. I look down at the shield, surprised that I can communicate with them via mind reading. Was this something new?  

“Um… yeah?” I say aloud, unsure of whether I can speak in my mind or not. “What’s wrong, Lily?”

I hear Lily and the others’ grunts of effort and I look down once more, noting the shield is shaking under my weight.  _“N-Not that you’re heavy or anything… we can’t… hold…”_  The shield snaps like glass and breaks apart, sending the fairies flying apart and eventually, they return to the hairpins, mumbling an apology. A yelp tears itself from my throats and I just barely manage to grab onto the wall, clinging to it.

“Okay…” I continue climbing as if I wasn’t about to break my neck from this height by falling, “Note to self… work on how long I can hold their transformations…”

What was odd about this whole exchange was that I didn’t even feel that I couldn’t hold the shield. Maybe only they could? Either way, I didn’t think that the moment they ran out of juice, they’d return to the hairpins. This was odd, to say the least.

“You guys are gonna do some serious push-ups and sit-ups later!” I yell at them as I swing my right leg, and then my left leg over the wall.

It’s much, much higher up here and the only way to get down is by using a rope. I’m going to kill Urahara when I see him again. Tsubaki flies up to where I sit and sits down next to me. “What happened with them?” I ask him, trying to figure out how I’m going to get down the rope. “Why couldn’t they hold the shield?”

“We aren’t strong enough to hold anything more than around thirty seconds right now.” Tsubaki explains, staring at me as if I was stupid—which, I guess I kind of was. “Because you’re so weak, you've unconsciously placed limiters on our powers. So, in basic terms, you can understand… when we near the limit that could take up a lot of your reiatsu and potentially harm you, the form we sustain becomes unstable and we break apart and return to the dormant form in order to save you the trouble and recharge. Right now, I estimate that there is a five-minute recharge time in between each attack you use.”

I turn Tsubaki’s words over in my mind, nodding, “So, if I’m hearing this correctly, if I were to use you next to do something, after a couple of attacks—depending on strength, you would… lose form and return to the hairpins?” Tsubaki nods, “And same goes for Ayame and Shun’o too…” Tsubaki nods again and I place my hand on my chin. “How do you know all this?”

“It just comes to us naturally. If you’d let us in your mind, you would know the trade secrets.” Tsubaki huffs, “Stop blocking us out. We are your power or did you forget our conversation?”

“No… I didn’t forget…” I reply quietly. I told them I was going to make them my power, so I had to do so. “I’ll… try to stop shutting you out.” Tsubaki only grunts, pinching me and flying away and I’m left to my own thoughts. Tsubaki was right, I needed to stop leaving them out, thinking that I could do this on my own. They were my power now and I had to use them accordingly.

I grip the rope, coating my hands in reiatsu in order to make this as painless as possible. Despite the fear jacking up my heartrate, I push off of the wall and cling to the rope, screaming as I slide down. “Any louder and someone might call the cops!” Yoruichi calls from the other side of the wall.

“S-Sorry!” I call back, turning to look at the next obstacle. What’s in front of me is the barbed wire exercise. Oh, why did it feel like I was training for the military instead of the soul society? I tie my hair up higher into a firmer bun—I had planned on getting dirty today, but this was ridiculous! I flop onto my stomach, crawling through the mud underneath the barbed wire.

I roll out of the way when something drops down onto me. Looking beside me, I see something like a blade land in the mud. Two more follow it and I scream, “What kind of obstacle course is this!” I try to crawl a little faster, but I’m nearly sliced open more than once—I have little cuts to prove it before I make it to the other side. I breathe out noisily, standing up and surveying the next obstacle.

“Oh, fucking joy…” I groan out, seeing the sharp spikes sticking out of the turnstiles. “What if I had parents or someone who lived with me?” I yell back at Yoruichi, “Wouldn’t they be suspicious if I came back with bruises and cuts?”

“That’s your own problem!” Yoruichi counters, “I told you to use your power, so figure it out!” Yoruichi was right, I had to figure this out, but what could I do at this point? My scream wouldn’t help me do anything, there was nothing to heal here and… Using Tsubaki now would only mean that I couldn’t use him until five minutes from now. God, this obstacle course was making me think a lot more than I wanted to. I wasn’t the thinker—I was more of a do-er and here I was, pausing after every obstacle to think.

If I had the shields, I could’ve used them to block the blades, but it looked like I had to go this alone. And I couldn’t go around it—the field of turnstiles are pretty wide, stretching into the forest and lining the wall. I sigh, steeling my resolve. Maybe I could coat my body in reiatsu and use it to soften the blows. I wasn’t good enough to make it so I couldn’t feel anything yet, but I could at least make them feel more like pinches that knives digging into my body as I went in.

I stare down at my hands, willing my Reiryoku to make itself visible and it works. The pink-ish reiatsu comes to the surface, thinly coating my body and I move towards the turnstiles. Walking through them isn’t an easy task—it’s sort of like training against someone—like, if you’ve ever seen Dragon Ball Z where they go multiple times, kicking, punching and blocking each other as they float across the sky. It’s kind of like that. Every time I knock a turnstile away, another one comes at me and I’m ducking, weaving and dodging, as well as returning hits until I trip, smacking my head against one of the turnstiles and landing out on the other side and nearly falling into the moat.

I stand, dusting myself off and staring at the rope. Good God, this part was going to kill me. I was probably taking a good, long ass time to complete this, but at this point, I didn’t care. I had to carefully consider all my options and see what I could do at each. I knew that in a real fight, I couldn’t do this, but this was good practice for thinking on my feet.

Luckily, I knew in the Soul Society—after consulting my timeline—that Inoue didn’t run into much trouble. All of it was handled basically by Uryu. Of course, I wasn’t going to let this happen, but I really was banking on Uryu being there to help back me up a lot. He was basically going to be my saving grace. I shook it from my thoughts. We still had eight days to get up to par and then a couple more while Urahara finished the gateway, so I could worry about what I would need to do once we got to the Soul Society later.

Right now, I had to focus on crossing this moat. I couldn’t walk around it, just like I couldn’t with the turnstiles. Maybe I could just walk through it? I pick up a nearby stick and squat near the moat, holding it and putting it down into the water. The stick readily sinks. Just great. “But wait, maybe…”

I look down at my feet. Maybe I could channel Reiryoku into them and… walk across? It wasn’t an impossible thing to think I could possibly do. I feel the Reiryoku rush through my system and tentatively place a foot against the water. It’s bouncy—like surface tension, but I’m unsure if I should try to stand out on it. I take the chance, sliding my foot further out and placing my second foot down. “Heh… heh… I-I’m do—wah!” I screech, dropping into the water.

I break the surface, coughing and sputtering as I pull myself out and up onto the ground. Okay, let’s not try that again. That was stupid of me. I don’t even know how to swim! Why would I think that was a good idea?

“I could have killed myself!” I gasp out, pulling myself further onto the ground. Great, now I was stuck and I was soaking wet. Why was this so hard? As far as I could see, this was just a normal obstacle course—nothing spiritual about it! How could they have built something like this in under a night? And the whole of the obstacle course was pretty well made too, but this was ridiculous. Who told them to make something so complex? Why couldn’t we just get something like a treadmill and just run on that. I’d take running over this any day, honestly.

After getting my bearings again, I stand. My hands grip the rope and I frown. I had upper body strength, but probably not enough to carry me over to the other side. I just had to hope that if I went far enough back, I could just swing over the moat. It wasn’t that long, just deep and wide. Sado could probably jump across it with ease, but me? No way. I was much too short and kind of chubby. I didn’t have the jumping power that he had.

I just had to hope for the best. I grip the rope a little tighter and move back and before I can stop myself by telling myself this is an awful idea, I run, screaming and then jumping across the moat gripping the rope. I guess my grip was too tight, because I land on the other side and hear a snap. The rope breaks off and smacks me in the face before I can do anything else. Okay, so this worked… kinda. I move the rope off of my body. “Sorry, Sado, but I’m sure you can figure something out.”

I move to stand, looking at the next obstacle and not that somehow, the last obstacle looks a lot farther away that it did from the front.

The next obstacle is those wooden bars, and looking at them, I have no idea what to do with them. Was I supposed to hop over them? I approach the bars, looking them over and tentatively touching them. They looked… pretty normal, but they were also a good portion of my height—but considering I was only two inches above five feet, mostly everything was a good portion of my height. I wrap my arms around the bar, grunting as I try to heave myself over them and yelp, flipping over and landing on my back.

“This is stupid! I’m going back!” I shout, waving my arms around. I spin on my heel. It didn’t matter if I couldn’t cross the moat, I was going to find a way to get back to the start. I was done with this. Luckily nobody was here to watch me, otherwise I’d have been humiliated.

“Oh… dear…” Shun’o clicks his tongue. I hadn’t even noticed them appear. I crane my neck towards the fairies to look at him. “I wish we could help.” He, Ayame and a reluctant-looking Tsubaki all float above me. I open my mouth to ask why they’re all here when Shun’o continues speak. “They wanted to know what was taking you so long.”

“You’re… pretty bad at this.” Ayame holds no bars, “I thought you’d be better, considering you trained with that man.”

I huff, sitting up and moving some of my hair out of my face. “I wanna see you try this then, Ayame!” I cross my arms, “All the ideas I think of would be better if I had the others. Er, no offence to you guys.”

“It’s fine.” Shun’o responds, though his voice seems kind of cold. “It’s not like we can do anything for you. We can’t even heal your injuries.” I blink, tilting my head at Shun’o. I didn’t know they couldn’t heal my injuries. I always thought that Inoue just didn’t ever want them to heal her, so she just never did. “Our power is used for others. It’s born from  _your_  selflessness.” Ah, that kind of made sense. Let’s just hope that I didn’t get hurt badly, because I was shit out of luck if I did so. They couldn’t heal me and I didn’t know any healing kidou, so I was basically stuck.

“This is really hard.” I choose to say instead, grabbing onto the wall to pull myself up. “How am I supposed to do all these obstacles? It feels like Yoruichi is just having us do whatever… I don’t even think this is helping our reiatsu grow at all.”

“Everything you’ve been doing is physical—aside from when you used the others in the beginning and when you did that thing with the turnstiles.” Ayame points out, “I-I think the training exercise is about you learning to use  _your_  powers in creative ways, even when the task is s-s-something simple like this…”

“I  _have_  been thinking up creative ways to use you guys, but I just…” I sigh, “It’s still hard, I feel like I’m stealing. You guys don’t belong to me and… I don’t want to use you.”

The words sound a lot harsher than I mean them to, but I can’t take it back. Ayame looks hurt by my words, and I feel bad, but it’s just how I feel. I might have said that I was going to make them my own power, but the fact still stands that I didn’t create these guys.

They weren’t mine to use, so how could I just use them like that? Even if we were the only ones to remember Inoue, I still felt bad—since they remembered her too. And I took her place and took them away from her.

How could I do something like that? Even if it wasn't intentional on my part.

Tsubaki grunts, “Then don’t call on us again. If you feel like you’re stealing, why don’t you just use that scream of yours and be done with it? Shun’o, Ayame, let’s go.” The two share a glance, obviously wanting to protest, but Tsubaki begins barking at them, “Now! Let’s move! She obviously doesn’t want us, so there’s no reason to stick around!”

Without another word, the three return to the hairpins and I sigh. It wasn’t that great having a sentient power, now was it? Now they hated me because I said I didn’t want to use them. I frown, squatting down onto the ground and staring at it. Instant regret washes over me in waves and my eyes burn as tears threatened to fall. I was the worst. I just couldn't catch a break, could I?

I wipe the tears threatening to fall and stand back up. "Fine! If you don't wanna help me out, then I'll just do this by myself! Like I have been!" I yell into the air. Anger surges through me and I kick the air underneath the wooden bars. Pain immediately explodes through my foot and I yelp, clutching it. "What the fuck! I _hate_ this! This is so stupid, this is dumb! What the hell!"

Maybe this isn't my best moment, but I'm angry. I'm upset. I just ruined my relationship with the fairies because I couldn't get over myself and my situation and... now I was all alone.

Why did I have to become Inoue? Why couldn’t I have just stayed whoever I was before? Or, at the very least, been reborn as my own person? At least if I was my own person, I could do things on my own and not have them laid out for me to follow. …I could potentially change things.

Change things. That’s what it always seemed to come down to. Whether I should or shouldn’t change things. I had resolved long ago not to think like this, but… it was hard. And it only got harder the more I changed, the more I realized Inoue wasn’t… anybody here. But Hoshiko was. And Hoshiko was already changing things.

Me being here has already changed a lot. There was so much that I had done in these past few months that had nothing to do with Inoue—it was  _me_ . Memories flit through my mind of all the things that I’ve done here so far.  _I_ met Urahara and the others.  _I_ started training under him and working there.  _I_ made friends with Rukia and  _I_  saved Tatsuki and Chizuru.

Just like Shun’o said that day, it was  _me_  who reached out to Ichigo, not Inoue. It was  _me_  who tried to make him feel better… of my own volition. I didn't do it because I thought Inoue would do it. I did it because I wanted to.

_I_  was the one who summoned the Shun Shun Rikka to protect Tatsuki and  _I_ was the one who beat that hollow. Sure, in another life, Inoue had summoned them to protect her friends as well, but Inoue was gone now. And in her place… was  _me_.

And I had to make up for what had been lost… and there was no way I was going to do that without the Shun Shun Rikka. They were mine now and I had to make them  _my_  power. I couldn’t keep calling them ‘Inoue’s power’ or a ‘borrowed power’. I was here and so were they and they were mine.

They were willing to work with me and what have I been doing this entire time? Acting like I didn’t want them. “No more.” I tell myself. “The Shun Shun Rikka are  _my_  power now and I’m going to embrace them… and use them in ways only Hoshiko could.”

“…That’s the spirit.” Lily says to my left. I turn, looking at her and the other fairies.

“You guys…” I feel my eyes water again as I look them over. “I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—! ” Tsubaki rams himself into my forehead. “Ow!” I was totally gonna have another scar there.

“This is the last chance we’re giving you.” Tsubaki grunts, crossing his arms, “Don’t waste it… and turn off the waterworks.”

I sniffling, nodding and wiping my eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I… it took me some time, but I think I understand now.”

And I really do think I understand now. The Shun Shun Rikka were my power… they weren’t borrowed or stolen. Even though Inoue and I had the same main power, we were still different. Different personalities, different feelings, different experiences and different ways of doing things.

She was only an example and I had to make my own way. I clench my fist, looking up at them. “I’m going to forget Inoue.” I tell them, “I can’t compare myself to her when it comes to you guys—or anything—anymore. You aren’t borrowed or stolen. You are  _mine_. And… I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to realize this.”

Tsubaki hums while Ayame and Lily cheer. Shun’o claps and Hinagiku and Baigon nod curtly at me. “I’m glad we’re finally on the same page.” Shun’o speaks. “Now, let’s finish this obstacle course, hm? You’ve been out here long enough.”

I nod at him, feeling determination fill my body. I feel… fresh and new, like I’ve just opened every window in my house on a hot summer night and the breeze pours in. I really, truly, feel like the Shun Shun Rikka belong to me and I won’t ever let myself or them feel inadequate by comparing myself to Inoue. She was gone now and I was here.

Hopefully I would be enough. “Call the cops, cause this pity party is over! Let's do this.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko are u done being a drama queen yet ??? cause we are all waiting on you.
> 
> well, training arc, as… uneventful as it was will be over next chapter tbh. I honestly did not want to drag the arc as a whole longer than I needed to, so that's my reasoning for it being short. Plus I was totally at a loss, like I rewrote this particular chapter a couple of times and everything I came up with was... Blegh. There's more 2 come, be prepared. Soul Society in a couple chapters!!


	15. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training Arc: Complete! Next stop, Soul Society

 

With me finally realizing that I wasn't in this alone, that I needed the fairies and their help, I felt renewed. I felt… different. It was kind of like a breath of fresh air.

It really did help me, all this thinking and those memories coming up, but I feel like those memories were the fairies pushing them on to me to help me realize that I wasn’t standing in Inoue’s shadow any longer—and I hadn’t been for a long, long time. I guess with the realization that I wasn’t getting my own power, somewhere in the back of my mind, I kept thinking that I didn’t belong here and things weren’t right, but this was my canon now—this was my life, so I was going to do things my way like I had been before this.

It wasn’t all okay yet, but it was going to be. And I was going to actively make sure it got there.

“Okay.” I turn to the fairies. “Let’s do this.” I walk over to the wooden bar, grabbing it and hoisting myself up. I don’t go much of anywhere. Like I said, not much going on in the upper body department. I huff loudly, grunting as I try to hoist myself up.

“Aren’t you supposed to be turning over a new leaf?” Lily sits down on the bar next to me. “This isn’t exactly... a new leaf.

“I’m doing the best I can!” I gripe, letting go of the bar. “What am I supposed to do then?” The fairies all look to be at a loss of what to do and I sigh, “Okay, I guess... we’re gonna have to try a different approach. Baigon, Lily, Hinagiku, if you please.” 

The three perk up at hearing me call their names. I move my hand to about my knee. “I need a shield about right here.  _ Santen Kesshun _ … I reject.” I put my hands in the diamond shape to focus, on the spot and the three form the shield. Using the wooden bar to hold onto, I climb up onto the shield and then onto the bar, wobbling slightly before I manage to steady myself. 

“Okay, so I’m all sure we know what my next move is.” I look at them. From what I remember from before, Tsubaki said there was a recharge time in between when I used them. I was unsure whether that meant if I used them to the breaking point or not, but I wasn’t going to take the chance. Instead I decided that I was just going to run across the long and it was a lot easier said than done.

The moment I started moving, I knew I had to keep going or I was going to fall. And that didn’t stop the screams of fear pouring out of my mouth as I ran with a fierceness I didn’t know I had. Of course, until I reached the third to last one and slipped, slamming into the next bar and flopping onto the ground. Tsubaki laughed loudly at my misfortune and I decided to let him have it, since I was kind of an asshole just a couple of minutes ago.

Instead of calling on the shield again, I just tried my best to flip over the next bar and was finally out of that wooden bar hell. Only two more obstacles to go and then I was at that wall. I wonder how long I had been out here? It was probably less than an hour but more than twenty minutes.

The next obstacle was the swinging ropes and I stood underneath them, staring up at them blankly. “… he didn’t even leave a step ladder. How am I supposed to get up there?” The fairies shrug and I sigh, deciding to just walk through. Luckily, there’s no type of invisible barrier and I easily make it through. 

“Well, that was pretty anticlimactic.” I look back at the ropes, maybe he ran out of ideas and just decided to put in normal things at the end? That would help me out a lot if he did. I approach the monkey bars, knowing that I don’t have the upper body strength to use them, but there’s some sort of trench of water beneath them and I don’t really want to walk through it, so I climb up on top of the monkey bars, since it’s more shaped like a Jungle Gym’s monkey bars and begin crawling.

Only... I don’t get too far with that. The bars... move. They quickly make a larger gap between them just as I’m halfway through. I shriek, dropping straight into the water and getting wet once again. I gasp out, splashing around in panic until I realize that... the trench isn’t at all that deep. I sit up, gasping for air. I’m going to kick Urahara in the face for all of this. “Why is everything like this?” I yell. “You know what? Tsubaki! Break it!”

I stare up at the fairy. He doesn’t move at all, instead he cross his arms, looking down at me. “Uh... Tsubaki?”

“Were you talking to me?” He says lightly, tilting his head.

“Um, yes. You’re the only one named Tsubaki here, right?” I blink.

“Well, I don’t think I want to.” Tsubaki finally says, “To be able to use my power, you have to prove to me that you deserve to use it. Just because we’ve decided to give you this chance does not mean that I’ll be readily available to do your bidding. Show me you want this.”

“I want this!” I yell up at him, “I need you guys! I can’t do this without you!” I stand up in the water trench, “I went through a whole emotional thing just a couple minutes ago, you should know, you were there! I know it seems fake, but it’s true!” I stare at him. “You are my power and I intend to use you!”

“Fine, I’ll lend you a hand.” Tsubaki relents, “But it won’t be as easy next time. Say the command.”

“ _Tsubaki_!” I shout, “Koten Zanshun, I  _ reject _ _!”_ I throw my hands up, directing them at the monkey bars. Tsubaki flies up, a beam of orange light trailing after him as he spins, then abruptly turns, spiraling downwards and straight into the monkey bars.

And I go flying. 

“Ow!” I smack into something hard and flip backwards until I’m laying flat on my back. At least we knew what my emotional states did to my powers. It made them... incredible. But it also could have been Tsubaki showing me what he can do and what I’d have been missing if I had decided not to try and make up with them. He was powerful when given the right tools, I won’t lie. It was probably better to be on the side he wasn’t attacking.

The Shun Shun Rikka were powerful, there was no denying that. And there was no way I could do this without them. I gulp, panting. I really needed to make up my selfishness and fix things.

“Finally.” Yoruichi’s deep voice purrs, “We were starting to think you died out there.” I look up, seeing Sado and Yoruichi standing in front of me. “How was it?”

“… life changing.” I say after I’ve regained enough energy to sit up. “And life changing as in… it was long and tedious and I never want to do it again. I almost cried and I nearly died three times. I think I broke something.”

“Fair enough. Sado, it’s your turn.” Yoruichi stands. I do as well--well, Sado helps me stand and pretty much carries me around the building to the front and Sado lines up to go through the obstacle course. “Please don’t take as much time as Hoshiko here. She was out there for nearly an hour and a half.” So maybe I did take a lot longer than I thought. But I had things to think about, alright? I was finally accepting myself and Yoruichi needs to chill! This is hard stuff!

I huff, crossing my arms and looking away from the cat. “Take your time, Sado. It’s not a damn race.”

Sado takes off, climbing up the wall with relative ease and I know that if this was timed properly, he’d probably have me beat by a long shot. But it was fine, but I had come to terms with myself and my powers and you couldn’t do that on a time crunch.

“You seem different.” Yoruichi comments, flicking their tail.

“Oh?” I tilt my head. “I don’t feel that different.” Were the fruits of my effort finally showing off? Was I different because I was finally accepting myself and my role? “Have I grown? Am I cuter now?”

“Oh,” Yoruichi says after looking at me for a moment, “It’s your nose. It’s swelling. I see you must’ve ran into one of the invisible barriers.” I squeak, digging through my bag to find my pocket mirror. Quickly, I open it and sure enough, Yoruichi was right.

“Oh  _ man _ ! This  _ has _ to go down by the time we’re ready to leave.” I press against my nose, wincing. I guess I hadn’t even realized that it hurt after it stopped throbbing so much.

“Trying to impress Kurosaki?” Lily teases. I swat her away. Ain’t nobody thinking about Ichigo like that. Besides, it was clear he had a hard-on for Rukia and/or Uryu anyway. Hoshiko was just trying to survive out here.

“No… Kurosaki  _ wishes _ this was trying to get with him. I mean, look at these curves. I've got more than he probably even knows what to do with. But on the serious, what if I meet someone  _ cute _ in the Soul Society? I know we’re going to pretty much declare a war on them to get someone back, but I mean, hello? I need someone who’s gonna take care of me!” I snap my fingers, “I need a  _ man _ , not a boy.”

Yoruichi chuckles, “Everyone there is much too old for you anyway.” The cat stalks over, putting their paws on my bag, “Besides... Do you really think Kisuke would let you date outside your age bracket?”

“…I guess not. But still,” I whine, closing the mirror, “I could at least have  _ someone _ paying for me to do things. I’m cute enough for it, right?”

“Yes, a real modern-day Helen of Troy. The center of many coming conflicts, I’m sure.” Yoruichi dismissively said. Oh, Yoruichi, you don’t even know the half of it. “Did you work out your problems?”

I blink, looking over at Yoruichi. “I... what?”

“Your problems.” She repeats. I look to the fairies, “I noticed earlier that you seemed to be out of it.” I watch Yoruichi for another moment. How could she tell? What did she know? “I’m just curious, is all.” Yoruichi flicks her tail, “You seemed kind of upset at your abilities to me.” She chuckles, “I should know, I’ve been through something like that too. It’s hard, overcoming it. But, to tell you the truth, I devised this obstacle course more for you than for Sado, you know.”

“Wh-Why?”

“Because I could tell that putting you through regular training means right now wouldn’t help you at all.” Yoruichi answered, “There’s always a method to madness. With this obstacle course--being so normal and all, I wanted to see how you would use your new powers. Did you notice that most of it could have easily been thwarted by using a shield? Even cutting through it would have sufficed, but nothing could be combated with your scream?” I nod my head, “The point of this was for you to rely on your powers. They are yours and they are here for a  _ reason _ . You can’t plan for everything, sometimes you need to go with the flow. You must learn to use your powers more freely, Hoshiko. And with a sentient power like yours, that is a big part.”

I stare at Yoruichi before looking down at the ground. It didn’t seem like Yoruichi knew more than she had observed. We were in the clear for now, but she was... her words may not have made much sense, but there was something about them that... resonated within me. The whole time I was here, I’d been struggling with making a way and trying to think ahead instead of just going with the flow naturally.

Of course, I wouldn’t completely let myself go with the flow—I would actively try to change things, like the whole Aizen bit, but I couldn’t focus on what was to come, otherwise I’d miss out on what was happening. “I... see your point. But why an obstacle course?”

“... I thought it would be funny.” Yoruichi comments innocently as she can. “And this is payback for your annoying performance yesterday. I know how much you hate physical labor, so I knew this would be a treat for me.”

“I nearly drowned in that moat!” I yelp, “And the trench! You could have killed me, all for some shits and giggles!”

“And when we watch the tapes later, it’ll be hilarious to see.” Yoruichi replies, humor in her voice,  “Now—!” Yoruichi cuts off when we hear a loud crash. Then another, then another… and  _ another _ . Before we can stand up to see what the commotion is, Sado comes back around.

“That was… easy, what took you so long, Hoshiko?” Sado said, as calm as ever. I wanted to punch him in his nice face. Damn him for making me look like a slow slob.

“Aside from a real lack of strength, I was having an existential crisis.” I admit, shrugging, “It happened around the wooden bars.”

“Yeah, I got stuck around there too.” Sado shakes his head, “So I just punched it. And then I punched everything else.” Well, that was certainly one way to go about it.

“We can’t all go around punching everything we see, Sado.” I deadpan, frowning at him.

“So… what you’re saying is…” A menacing aura stopped us, prompting Sado and I to back up. “You…  _ destroyed _ the obstacle course?”

“W-Well…” I decide to speak up on Sado’s behalf, “You did,  _ technically _ say that we had to get through it using our powers and Sado  _ did _ say his power was… punching things.” Sado nods quickly agreeing and Yoruichi looks as if she wants to say something, but ultimately, the cat sighs in defeat.

“Why, why, why…?” Yoruichi slams her head into the ground and eventually shakes it off. That’s what you get for trying to enjoy my pain. “Okay, we can handle this. I… have something else for you two to do anyway. Let’s just go inside.” Just as I move to pick up my bag, something crashes and Yoruichi groans. I feel bad for the cat, but they should’ve know that this was a possibility. I guess I’m just kind of glad I went first. “Okay, just go home.”

“But I brought lunch…” I hold up the bag. “It’s just a traditional bento today, bu—!”

“Just go home!” Yoruichi barks and Sado grabs me, pulling me along as the fairies follow.

“Maybe…” I start when we’re far enough away, “Destroying the course was… bad?”

“What do you mean?” Sado feigns innocence. “I was following orders.”

“Maybe...  _ not _ destroying the course would have been... good.” I say instead, trying to keep the smile off my face. I can’t keep my face straight and laugh. Sado chuckles, shaking his head.

“Probably.” Sado agrees. “Are we meeting tomorrow?”

“Maybe.” I answer, shrugging. Yoruichi didn’t say we were, but the cat also didn’t say that we weren’t meeting. “Let’s just show up tomorrow anyway.” Sado nods and the two of us go our separate ways.

I still had things I needed to work on. I don’t know what more Sado could do, since his arm giving him strength was the end of it for right now. But me, I still had a lot to do.

On the working out my powers side, I had to cut down the recharge time between when I could use attacks. I needed to be able to flow in between using shields, to using Tsubaki to healing and be able to do them whenever I wanted. So I had to work on that and the only way I could think to do that was by repeatedly calling them out to do their thing until I was tired out.

And I had a couple of things I wanted to try out anyway. I didn’t want to do some of them in front of the others anyway. I kind of wanted it to be a surprise, if that makes sense. And on the other side, I had to show the fairies I really meant business. I knew I needed one-on-one bonding time with the fairies if I was going to stop self-pitying and fully accepting them and myself.

I meant what I said today, but saying and doing are two different things. If I don’t prove myself, then we aren’t going to get anywhere. Especially after Tsubaki’s display, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I could only hope we’d be okay enough by the time we were ready to go to the Soul Society. I had my work cut out for me and a big role to fill. 

And I intended to do just that.

* * *

The next couple of days fly by without incident and I feel more confident in my abilities and the Shun Shun Rikka. At my current strength, I could summon, maintain and use attacks in somewhat rapid succession. Yoruichi’s training methods after our first couple of days were… spartan at best. It was clear that the cat wasn’t sure what to do with us (and was constantly getting fed up with our quick remarks and questions), so she did a little bit of everything—everything being something like dodging things to balance to anything in between. We even played hide and seek. Sado won, because he got stuck in a tree. All I got were bruises, upon bruises, upon bruises. Sado’s powers and my powers were really different, so the same methods couldn’t be used for both of us.

For the rest of the days, Yoruichi had separated us for the most part, Sado was on the second floor of the building and I was on the third, tossing shields around and hitting targets with Tsubaki. I hadn’t had much of a chance to practice my healing abilities, aside from healing up Sado a little bit before we left each day but I didn’t think that those needed much practice. It was pretty straight forward, being able to heal, so Ayame and Shun’o spent most of the time watching, as they weren’t really privy to fighting like Tsubaki was. 

I still wasn’t able to create a shield that was taller than myself, but the shields could hold a lot of weight, I knew as I’d had Sado stack desks and other things on the shield before it finally gave way, so at least it could hold a lot of weight. The thing that was hard to do, was maintain size—like I said, it was only as tall as me, so when Yoruichi began throwing things at us with an automated reiatsu flinger-thingy (Yoruichi had said the actual name of it, but I could remember. All I knew was it looked like the ball machine that you used for tennis but nothing like tennis balls ever came out of it. Only… pain. I really needed Urahara to stop building things for this cat to use.), Sado was hit a couple of times before he learned that he needed to crouch down to fit behind my shield.

The shield could take a good amount of hits before it began cracking and I needed to reinforce it or move. The width of the shield wasn’t a problem for me, as if the shield was flat and I was using it to step on, I could make the size bigger that way, but height was a real problem for me.

Aside from this, I was trying to work on being able to throw my shield, for now, I could only form a shield a couple feet away from me, but I had to have my hands up, focusing it on where I wanted the shield. If I dropped my hands or my attention to it was too low, the shield would break apart, so while I still had things to work on, I was sure they would come more naturally the more I practiced.

But working on shields and with Tsubaki wasn’t the only thing I did. I still sparred with Sado and we were both getting better—I could control my reiatsu to up my strength more and Sado was slowly learning to do the same—and to use his arm to block. At Sado’s base power, I could contend with his arm, but if he powered up, I was sure to lose. But this was only me using hand-to-hand combat, when I used Tsubaki, it was much, much easier to possibly pull out a win.

Out of all the fairies, Tsubaki was kind of the one I was closest with—it showed in me being able to summon him with only a call of his name. I think it was probably because he was the hardest on me since that day and made me work to use him. Now, I could summon him easily and just point to where I needed him to go, I didn’t even have to call out the attack name.

As for my scream, I had some ideas that I wanted to use it for, and so far, practice with that had been going okay, but I was at a standstill with my reiatsu coating. My reiatsu was odd—before when I’d used it against Sado initially, it stuck close to my body and acted as a buffer, but now it wasn’t doing that. It was billowing out freely and it was all I could do to stop it from doing so. I couldn’t use it to coat myself, but I could course Reiryoku through my body and use it to enhance my strength, but that was about it.

I was getting better, but I still wasn’t the best. Comparing to where Inoue was when she went to Soul Society, I think I was well ahead of her, but I still needed to be prepared, after all, I still didn’t have much battle experience despite my sparring with Sado every day. The Shinigami still had a lot over me. Most, if not all of them, had been with their zanpakuto and using their own powers for decades, so we were still at a disadvantage—plus, we had no intel on their powers or abilities, so we were going in there blind for the most part. I mean,  _ I _ knew the Captain and lieutenants’ powers to an extent, but the small fry we would eventually face? I wasn’t sure about them. Would I even face a captain? I don't know.

Like I said, my memory was getting fuzzy, so I couldn’t remember the exact details, aside from the big things. 

I shook it from my thoughts as we took a break on the second to last day. Sado sat with me on the third floor as we tore into the lunch I’d made. 

The two of us really did come together during this time. I mean, with our somewhat fast start, Sado and I were on the way to becoming really good friends. He was lowkey really funny with his quiet and deadpan expression. One would assume he was always just... quiet and stoic, but really, he was just kind of socially awkward and goofy. Sado was a delight not many people knew about. And his progress was just as good as mine, I think. He could snap his fingers and there his power was and he was able to throw punches that flew. And what I mean by that is... he literally threw something. Like a ball of energy emanated from his fist and went flying when he threw the punch.

I don't know how much more Sado had to go, but me? I was as prepared as I was going to be for now. “Are you bringing a lunch for the Soul Society?” Sado asks me as he finishes off the bowl of ramen and grabs his drink. “I’ve gotten so used to your cooking, I don’t think I could be without it.”

“Maybe for the first day.” I shrug. I hadn’t thought about bringing a lunch to the Soul Society. It just seemed like it would weigh me down. “Like, to eat when we first get there.” I look to Yoruichi who is eating her own bowl of ramen. “Can I do that, Yoruichi?”

“…I wouldn’t mind.” Yoruichi answers, looking up. “Maybe that pasta you made the other day, I particularly liked that.” I nod, taking it into consideration. I still didn’t know what Ichigo and Uryu preferred to eat, and I wanted to make something everyone would like.

“Speaking of Kurosaki,” I say aloud, drawing their attention, “How is he doing?” I hadn’t been to the Urahara shop since I started training with Sado and Yoruichi. 

Every morning I would run and by running, I’d meet Ururu and Jinta who didn’t give me many details on how Ichigo was or what Urahara was doing. They would only tell me that Urahara misses me a lot and wishes he could see me, but we all knew it wasn’t possible since he was training Ichigo and I was training with Yoruichi and Sado.

I did miss going to that place, though. It was like a home away from home and those people were starting to be seen as more family than anything else.

“…You never spoke of Kurosaki.” Yoruichi informs me and I blink, “Maybe you thought it, but you never said anything.”

“Oh, I didn’t?” I tilt my head, “I probably did just think it. I was thinking about something that everyone would like to eat, that’s why.”

“And Ishida.” Sado adds in, “After all this training, I’ve been sensing their Reiryoku and they seem fine.”

“Kurosaki is doing well.” Yoruichi nodded, “He is training, just like you.” I nod, standing up after packing away the dishes that we had all used. From what I could sense on my own, Ichigo had become stronger, now that he had his ‘own’ powers. Even from way out here, his determination and his reiryoku reached up. He was close to being ready, which means we only have so much time to perfect ourselves.

“Okay, so what’s next?” Sado stands with me and we turn to look at Yoruichi.

“That’s it.” The cat merely says, licking her paw. “You’ve completed your training. There’s nothing more I, personally, can teach you.”

“Wh-What?” I look at the cat, searching for anything like a joke. “Serious?”

“Anything you learn after this will be you discovering more about your powers.” Yoruichi answers, “For now, you’ve survived your training and I believe with a little more self practice, you’ll both be ready to go to the Soul Society.”

A strange wave of feeling passes through me and a smile wobbles onto my lips. Oh shit, it feels like things just got ten times more real. Sado and I exchange glances before looking back at Yoruichi. “Yes! We did it!” I jump up, cheering. Sado fist-pumps and… punches the foundational pole in the middle of the room. 

The building shakes. “I guess destroying the evidence is as good an ending as any…” Yoruichi sighs as a piece of the plaster falls from the ceiling. “Thank you, Sado…”

I quickly grab my bag and we run towards the stairs. “You know, despite all of this… you’re both very impressive to learn such things in such a short amount of time.” The cat leads the way down the stairs, but the exit from the second floor down is blocked by falling rocks. “Even with my training methods, you two never gave up. It’s rather commendable.” 

I hear a yelp behind me and see Sado tumbling down the steps. Quickly, I move out of the way, just in time to hear Yoruichi sigh. “Okay… just impressive.” I quickly help Sado up and we move towards the windows lining the second floor. Sado breaks them open and climbs out, dropping onto the ground without the need for me to throw out a shield.

I move to climb out the window, careful of the glass and get my shirt snagged on the glass, yelping as it tears and rips and I fall, landing safely in Sado’s arms. “Thanks, Sado…” I look at him as Yoruichi lands on my stomach.

“You know what? I take back the entirety of my compliment, now let’s go before someone comes…” Yoruichi hops off of me and Sado puts me down, the three of us running away from the crime scene. Well, like Yoruichi said, this was the best way to end our training.

“Looks like we went out with a bang!” I laugh. Yoruichi groans and it makes me wonder how the cat has put up with us for a whole week and then some. Well, I guess it was fine, considering we made it out alright.

And now we were ready for the Soul Society.

* * *

“Aw, but Hoshiko-chan, you’d look so  _ cute _ …” Kisuke holds up the yukata, “We’d all  _ match _ !” He, Jinta, Ururu and even Tessai are all wearing yukata with similar colors but different patterns.

“Mine doesn’t even  _ look _ like yours.” I tell him. I had come over here the next day after trying to figure out what to make for our trip, hoping that I could hang out a little before going to the fireworks show, but the moment I showed up, Ururu and Jinta had tackled me, saying that I needed to leave, since Urahara was on a rampage. When I asked what kind, they simply said he wanted everyone in yukatas.

When I had looked over the two, I saw they were indeed dressed in the yukata. Ururu’s was purple and white with a checkered pattern somewhat obscured by large flowers in groups. Her hair was done up in two buns with pins in them, a sharp contrast to her usual high twin ponytails. Jinta was wearing a simple dark blue yukata with stripes, a flat fan stuck in his sash. They were both pretty adorable, honestly.

I look at the yukata again. It’s light pink, almost white in color with a multicolored floral pattern spaced out all around it. In Urahara’s other hand is a beige colored sash with off-white lines, creating stripes. “…a better question would be, how do you know what my size is?” I’d never worn a yukata—well, since I was a kid, so I didn’t even know my own size.

“I guesstimated.” Urahara shrugged, “C’mon, Hoshiko-chan! It’ll be the last time we can be together as a  _ family _ !” He whines, holding them out to me. He was kind of right. Who knew when we would get back from the Soul Society?

I certainly didn’t. Time went odd in the Dangai from what I remember about it and who knew if things changed with me being here. This really  _ could _ be the last time I saw them in a while. I sighed, standing from the table after I texted Tatsuki, telling her I’d be a little late. She hit me back immediately, telling me to hurry since she didn’t want to be alone with Keigo and the others for long.

“Fine, give it here.” I make a hand motion and Urahara just about squeals with glee. I grab the yukata from him and head into the bathroom to change. Let it be known that wearing one of these wasn’t that easy. When I first came out, Tessai immediately sent me back in and began giving me instructions on how to put the damned thing on through the door.

When I emerged the second time, he seemed more satisfied and we went into the living room, which was empty. “Where are they?”

“Kisuke-san wanted a big reveal. They’re waiting outside while I do your hair.” Tessai explained. Armed with comb and brush, and a plethora of hairpins I wasn’t sure where he got, Tessai set to work doing my hair.

My hair was odd, since I pinned my bangs in a way that would allow for me to cover the scar on my forehead, so part of my bangs always stuck out oddly on the right side while the left was longer, just coming down past my chin. Tessai piled most of it up into an elegant bun, using my hairpins to help hold it in place. Then he clipped to my left side bang a flower ornament with three hanging pieces. “Wow…” I breathe out, “You always make my hair look so nice…”

“You have nice hair to begin with.” Tessai comments, standing up and helping me up. “Let’s go to the others.” The two of us head to the front, where I notice dark pink genta and slip into them.

Walking in a yukata was hard. Sure, it wasn’t as tight as a kimono with no openings, but it was pretty snug and I couldn’t spread my legs too far apart. I tucked my phone into the kinchaku that I’d been given as Urahara just about fawns over me. “C’mon, it’s not…” I trail, blushing.

“Oh, li’l Hoshicchi! You look so cute!” He coos, grabbing my face, “My kids look so nice, we need a photo. Tessai, where’s the—oh, you’ve got it.” Tessai sets up the tripod and the five of us squeeze together for the photo and I can’t help but smile—I was going to miss these guys while I was in the Soul Society.

After the picture, we head towards the fireworks festival with Jinta and Ururu heading off with Tessai to play games. “You seem different somehow, Hoshiko-chan.”

“I almost broke my nose earlier this week, so it might be that.” I joke, reaching up to touch it. The swelling had gone down for the most part, so I couldn’t complain. Urahara laughs, patting my head.

“I don’t think it’s that, but it’s something. You look stronger.” Urahara comments, “Are you sure you’re ready, Hoshiko-chan? I won’t force you to go.” I stare at Urahara. He was giving me a final out. If I said no now, I wouldn’t be going. But then… everything I went through was for nothing. “I won’t blame you.”

I still had an important role to fulfill there—even if I wasn’t sure what I would be doing now that it was me and not Inoue. I shake my head. “I’m ready, Urahara. I’m going.”

Urahara sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I thought as much. That’s why I had Yoruichi train you guys.” He smiles at me, though there’s something odd about it. “I don’t know what’s going to happen there, but I want you to stay safe and be alert, okay, Hoshiko?”

The seriousness in his voice has me shaken for a moment, but I nod nonetheless. “Of course. I haven’t been training this entire time to not be alert. I’ll stay safe—won’t do anything too crazy.” I assure him. Urahara only looks half-convinced but he nods.

“I’m gonna go get a choco-banana. Wanna come with?” He asks as if we hadn’t just had a serious moment.

“I have to go find Tatsuki.” I decline. After that, Urahara walks away to bother Tessai for money, since Urahara has a bit of a spending problem while I go find Tatsuki.

“Hoshiko.” Sado greets me. Up on his shoulders I see Karin and Yuzu, I smile, waving at him as they come closer.

“Hey, Sado!” It looked like I was just going to run into everyone here today. “What’s up?” The two girls stare at me and I smile, “Hey, Yuzu-chan.” I knew Yuzu because she came into the shop so often.

“Hi, Hoshiko-san!” Yuzu greets, grinning widely. She looks a little dazed, however and Karin sighs, shaking her head. “How’s everything going for you? Trying to date my brother?”

“I… what?” I tilt my head. That was an odd line of questioning for her. The girl was usually so polite and friendly. She never pried into anyone’s personal business and was overall pretty pleasant. It was why I sometimes gave her more than she asked for at the shop. “Is… she okay?”

“She’s drunk.” Karin supplies, crossing her arms, “Dad let her get at some wine that we thought was juice and she’s been throwing questions like this out for the past hour. You aren't the first person she's asked that question to. The first person was Sado.”

“Sadly, Ichigo isn't my type.” Sado jokes, a small smile on his face.

“Me either. He's too… well, he's too  _ Kurosaki _ for my tastes.” I look back to Sado, who nods, “Have you seen Tatsuki by any chance?”

“She’s by the riverbank with everyone else. We only came to get something to eat.” Sado explains. After saying that I’d see them later, I head over to the riverbank, noting that Tatsuki wasn’t wearing a yukata—in fact, nobody aside from Ichigo’s father had one on.

“Yo! Tatsuki!” I shout, waving my arms wildly. Tatsuki turns, waving me over. I quickly make my way over to her, practically barreling into her for a hug. “Tatsuki…! I missed you!”

“Hey, not so tight, kiddo.” Tatsuki laughs, pushing me away with one arm. I then notice that her other arm is in a cast.

“Jeez, Tatsuki!” I whine, shaking my head, “Why didn’t you say something before? I could’ve hurt you!” I hadn’t even noticed in my excitement to see her. She only laughs, patting my head and I pout, flicking her forehead.

Tatsuki looks me over, “Wow, a yukata? It looks pretty nice on you.”

“Well, it’s… uh, thanks.” I finally say. I can feel my cheeks heating up at her compliment. “Well, it’s a special day, so I guess I wanted to look nice for it.”

“Yeah, if I had known… well, I probably still wouldn't have worn one, honestly.” Tatsuki admits, rubbing the back of her head. “Oh, I wish I had brought a jacket or something so that you could sit down. But I can't really… yeah.”

“It’s fine, I can stand.” I tell her. “So, how was it? What did you do? What happened?”

Tatsuki launches into an animated tale of her trip around with the karate club and her tournament, where she broke her arm. I frown, if I had been there with her, maybe I could’ve healed it up? No, I was going through some own things with my powers, so I don’t know if that would’ve worked. 

“What about you, though?” She finally concludes after telling me about her second place trophy in the championship tournament. “What have you been doing?”

“Oh, you know, some of this and some of that…” I vaguely respond, looking out towards the river. I couldn’t tell Tatsuki what I was about to do or what I had been doing—I didn’t want her to worry too much, “But… um, I’m going… to visit my aunt for the rest of break.”

“You’re lying.” Tatsuki quickly shuts down my lie, looking me in the eye. I laugh nervously, looking away from her. Damn, how could she read me so quickly? “I... Hoshiko, you don’t really have to tell me what you’re doing, but you don’t have to lie either.”

Well now I just feel bad. “I… I’m sorry, Tatsuki.” I look down at my sandaled feet, “It’s just… what I’m going to do is going to be really hard and… I don’t want you to worry.”

“I’m always going to worry. A lot of what you do already has me worried, Hoshiko.” Tatsuki sighs, then pulls me into a one-armed hug, “But… this is something you  _ have _ to do, isn’t it?”

I nod, “Something I  _ must _ do.”

“Then… I can’t really do anything to stop you.” She pulls away, looking at me. “Just promise you’ll be safe.” I can feel tears welling up in my eyes and I nod again, not looking at Tatsuki. “That’s all I ask. And… good luck. Maybe you’ll finish in first place.”

“I hope to.” I tell her, pulling away completely just as the first firework goes off. “Thank you, Tatsuki.”

“Come back safe, okay?”

“I will, you don’t have to worry about that.”

I had to come back safe—and bring everybody back safe. If not for me, then for everyone who was waiting for us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tender moment between friends. TATSUKI GET A POWER AND JOIN THE CRU
> 
> It's almost time for the Soul Society!! Wow, can't believe it's been like... a couple of months since I started this! And we're almost done with this arc. Didn't think I'd make it this far lmao.


	16. Agent of the Shinigami Arc: Chapter 15 [END]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My computer hates me & it's back 2 school time. What a perfectly delicious way to end this arc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is rly short (IT IS ONLY FIVE PAGES WOW) bc we're goin.... 2 THA SOUL SOCIETy!! who Is PREPPED.

 

After the fireworks show, I didn’t see Urahara and the others, which was probably on purpose, so Tatsuki walked me home. We got to talk a little more, which was nice since I hadn't seen her in a long time.

Instead of going inside right away, I waited until she was out of sight to turn. “Kurosaki, you _have_ to do better than that.” I tell him. The boy steps out from where he’d been hiding and walks over to me slowly. “What’s wrong?” I then ask upon seeing his face.

He scratches the back of his head. “Nothing, I saw Chad earlier and asked him if he was ready to go and I was just…”

“Coming to see if I’d chicken out or if you could bully me into staying?” I frown, looking up at him. “You should just go home now and wait for Urahara’s signal since neither of those things are going to be happening.”

“Yeah, I thought as much. Chad even said you'd say something like this—seems like you guys became good friends.” Ichigo sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Urahara told me about the Soul Society a bit.” Ichigo continues, “It’s not a walk in the park. They’re nothing like what we’ve dealt with here.” I sigh, pulling on his ear, “Inoue!”

“Kurosaki!” I yell back. “You underestimate me. Did you think that Sado and I were sitting around, painting our nails and singing kumbaya around a fire?” Ichigo doesn’t look like he knows what to say, so I continue. “We’ve been _training_ , lover boy. We’re more than ready. Sado can control his power and so can I. We’re ready to go, just as you are.”

I glare at Ichigo, daring him to argue, but he doesn’t, instead he shakes his head. “I hope you aren’t planning on going li-like that…” He blushes, looking away from me. Oh, I’d forgotten that he was kind of squeamish around women—but I wasn’t even dressed provocatively. I was wearing a yukata.

“Why? What’s wrong with this? Don’t I look nice?” I lift my arms, looking at the yukata. “You think it looks bad, Kurosaki? That pains me! My heart, _oh_!” I clutch my chest, throwing a hand over my forehead.

“N-No, that’s n-not what I meant!” He stutters. “Y-You… it l-looks nice, I just—it doesn’t _matter_!”

“Oh, are you sure you think it looks nice?” I lean forward, smirking. He just made it so easy. "It matters to me, Kurosaki. Do you want to make me sad?" I try my best pout, leaning even closer. Oh, it was just too much fun teasing Ichigo.

“Y-Yes, you look nice! Now b-back away!” Ichigo takes two large steps back and I laugh. Okay, I’m done teasing him.

“Thanks, Kurosaki.” I let my laughter die out. “Hey, if I go like this, I might turn heads—maybe we wouldn’t even have to fight!”

Ichigo barks out a laugh, “Yeah, I wish.” He then looks at me more seriously, “If you’re sure about this… then I can’t stop you.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.” I nod, “Cause I would’ve kicked your ass if you had tried to stop me. I’m going and that’s final.”

“Then… let’s work hard together.”

“Oh my god, Kurosaki, this isn’t a school project,” I roll my eyes, “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Y-Yeah, later.” Ichigo doesn’t leave until I head up into my apartment and when I see him through the window, he finally walks down the street and out of view. I head into the bathroom to strip the yukata and shower. Today was a long day and I had an even bigger one ahead of me.

* * *

The days leading up to the day we would go to the Soul Society all blended together seamlessly. I still met up with Sado and we still trained—this time using our powers more often than not—and I got to know the fairies better.

We—the fairies and I—came up with techniques and different things that we might be able to use, with some input from Sado. I wasn't sure if we would be able to use these techniques, since they took a lot more power than normal, but they were options and it was good to have options.

On August 7th, I said goodbye to Sado after training with him all day and went home, intent on taking a shower. I really didn't know if I could sleep tonight, since I knew it had to be tomorrow morning when we left.

Time was going so quickly now and we had such a small amount left. Who knew what would be happening to Rukia now? Urahara had to be ready by now, right?

I hadn't seen them since the day of the fireworks, probably because they were hard at work and as much as I wanted to be involved, I knew I would only get in the way. Plus, I wanted to be doubly prepared. So much so that if anything bad happened, Urahara wouldn't regret his choice to let me go to the Soul Society.

After getting out of the shower and getting ready for bed, I frown. Was I actually going to be able to sleep tonight? I lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating calling out the fairies to have someone to talk to. I decide against it and lay on my side, facing my bedside table and close my eyes for a moment.

When I open them again, it’s not ten at night, but instead it’s about one in the morning and there’s blood on my closet.

Well, at least I didn’t have trouble sleeping for about three hours. I sit up and instead of freaking out—since I know Urahara is behind this—I just ignore it. Good thing I’d left out what I wanted to wear to the Soul Society last night instead of putting it in my closet.

I quickly strip out of my night clothes and put on the clothes I’d picked out. All the sweatpants that I had were dirty and beyond repair with holes in them and stains that just wouldn’t quit, so I had to improvise. After dressing and doing my hair—since I had Tessai show me how to do it in that style—I quickly head out of my room to grab the food I’d prepared, stuffing it into my bag. I then rush through putting on my shoes and head out, giving my apartment one last look before I ran down the street.

* * *

“I’m here!” I slide down the ladder, turning to see that everyone else has assembled already. I guess I was the last to get here, oh well, this is just how you make a fashionable entrance. “Oh, Uryu! You made it, good.” Uryu only hums, and I high-five Sado, “But _wow_ , do I feel under dressed. Uryu has a whole Quincy outfit, Kurosaki is gonna wear his li’l soul-snatching outfit and Sado... well, Sado, you look very nice. I just look like I’m goin’ the the gym.” Sado blushes, waving away my compliment—he does look nice. He always looks nice when he's not wearing his school uniform.

And… I mean, what does one even wear when they’re trying to break someone out of an otherworldly spiritual jail? Workout gear? Probably not. Maybe I should've worn that baseball cap. Oh well, I could live without it. At least my feet wouldn’t hurt. These were some good sneakers. Sado and Uryu were wearing fancy-looking shoes and Ichigo would be wearing those nasty sandals with no arch support—actually, now that I think about it, I was probably the best dressed for this out of the entire group.

“If you wanted an outfit, you need but ask, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu pushed up his glasses. “I’m very adept at making female clothing. But I think your attire is fine, it suits our purposes—light, breathable and easy to maneuver in. My attire is just...”

“Lemme guess, it was handed down generation after generation or something?” Uryu didn’t answer, but I’m sure that’s what he would’ve said, judging by the way he quieted down and wasn't looking me in the eye. “Nothin’ wrong with the garb of yer ancestors, more power to ya.” I then turn my attention to the large gate which Urahara is standing in front of. “Oh, this is how we make our entry? Looks _fancy_.”

“I’m glad _someone_ is impressed! You never fail me, Hoshiko-chan!” Urahara makes his way over, hugging me. “Everyone else just looked at it and went ‘hmph’. How rude are they, right?”

“I was impressed and after the first five minutes of me asking about it, I stopped being impressed because you wouldn’t tell us what it was.” Ichigo griped.

“Okay, enough of that.” I push Urahara away, approaching the gate and looking it over.

The gate, in one word, is large. Very large. It dwarfs Sado and Tessai’s height and seems to be made up of a bunch of stones placed together oddly, but upon closer inspection, I find out that it’s paper and seems more like Papier-mâché than what I’d originally thought.

“So, what’s this?” I drawl, turning to look at Urahara who looks ready to burst from waiting for that question from someone.

“This is the _Reishi Henkan-Ki_.” Urahara gestures to it lavishly. “Since three of the five of you are humans, this will help convert you, as you are, to a soul.”

“Even my food?” I question, showing him the bag.

“Even your food.” Urahara nods. “Gives a whole new definition to the term ‘soul food’, huh?”

“Sweet. And I like the pun.”

“So how does it work exactly?” Uryu speaks up. “Is there anything in particular we have to do?”

“Just be your usual, beautiful and happy selves.” Urahara informs him with a smile.

“That’s probably the easiest for me and the hardest for these two.” I jerk my thumb at Ichigo and Uryu, both of whom sputter, trying to come up with a comeback. “Oh, c’mon, it’s true. You guys are _never_ happy.”

“Aside from that, all you have to do is walk through.” Urahara cuts in. “Yoruichi will be your guide and will tell you anything else you need to know.”

The cat walks from around the Reishi Henkan-Ki and sits in front of it. “Hello, my students.” Sado and I don’t look at all surprised by Yoruichi—we’d been with the cat for nearly two weeks now, if that wasn’t enough time, I don’t know what is—but Ichigo and Uryu still look a little freaked out by Yoruichi. Just wait until they found out that Yoruichi wasn’t a man.

“This cat… is going with us?” Ichigo points at her, clearly in disbelief.

“Don’t be rude,” I smack his hand, “This cat is Yoruichi and Yoruichi is Urahara’s _best friend_. And our guide.” Ichigo seems to take my words and doesn’t question much else, which I’m thankful for.

“Okay, now that we’ve got _that_ bit out the way, last call. Is anybody staying behind?” Urahara looks pointedly at me before moving along the people. When no one speaks up, he sighs, “Okay, good.”

“Yeah, I’m glad you both are going.” I pat Ichigo’s arm and look to Uryu, “I mean, Uryu, if you didn’t go, Kurosaki would easily win Rukia—then where would you be? Without a Love Rival.”

“We _aren’t_ Love Rivals!” Ichigo and Uryu yelp at the same time, blushing.

“Oh? Have you made a truce? Or are y’all implying that there’s no competition? Damn, y’all are confident! Or maybe you've just dropped Rukia from the equation? I must say, it's taken y'all quite some time to do so.” Ichigo and Uryu sputter out some kind of retort, but it's hardly audible. I’m such an instigator. I really need to stop, but their reactions were too funny. Behind me, I feel two more presences. Ururu and Jinta are here. 

“Hey, Hoshi-nee." Ururu pulls on my bag. I turn, eyeing the two. It’s clear that they had been sleeping, though I wonder how Ururu managed to get out of the bed since she was always sealed in at night. Ururu holds her hand out to me and opens it up, showing me a homemade bracelet in her palm.

“What’s this?” I hold it up, inspecting it. It’s primarily pink and red with two beads—one green and one clear and written on the beads are the characters for ‘luck’ and ‘star’ on it. “Did you guys make this for me?”

“A bracelet for luck.” Ururu replies. “To help on the rescue. We all helped.”

“I poured all of my good luck into it, so you better bring it back!” Jinta yells at me, crossing his arms. “I’m only lending it to you, since you all so obviously need it.” These kids were too sweet, I almost felt like crying. Even if Jinta was kind of being a butthead, but that’s just how he was.

“Aw, you _guys_!” I pull the two into a tight hug, which Jinta protests wildly. “You shouldn’t have!” I slip it onto my wrist and smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring back all your luck and then some.”

“Tch, you better.” Jinta replies and the two stand back as Urahara stabs his cane into Ichigo’s forehead, knocking the boy out of his body.

“Okay, if all goodbyes are done being said,” Urahara calls our attention back. “Let’s get this show on the road! Tessai-san, if you would?” At the same time, the two of them slam their hands onto the ground and the previously empty Reishi Henkan-Ki lights up with a gray-ish white light.

“Now!” Urahara yells over the loud sound coming from it. It sounds like a vacuum put on high and the wind is picking up, sucking and pulling us closer to the gateway. “Once you’re converted, you’re going to go straight into the Dangai! And once you do, you don’t stop—just run!”

“Run! Got it!” I shout back, confirming what he said. I look to the others who are getting ready to go. This is really it. There’s no turning back. My stomach twists and turns in knots and I look to the bracelet on my wrist. It was going to be alright. I was going to come back from this. “I want you to clean the blood from your message off my closet before I get back!”

“Okay! _Go_!” Urahara yells and we take off, running into the unknown.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: idk if anybody follows the blog i got or whatever but i think i'mma put up some of outline i'd made for this arc. maybe some other behind the scenes stuff tbh. we'll see
> 
> Update Scheudle might get a lil wonky since school IS starting, just a heads up! But I still can and will answer questions on the blog if y'all want. 
> 
> once again it's hoshikonobleach.tumblr.com


	17. Soul Society: The Sneak Entry Arc: Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dangai Troubles & Rukongai Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we are !! WE HAVE GAINED ACCESS. ohhh boy.
> 
> i'm just so tired... school started back up and I work now. I'll still have time for this tho. This is my life's work lmao. anyway!! enjoy!

 

The air in the Dangai is  _ weird _ . It’s not suffocating, but it feels like there should be more of it… and at the same time, there should be less. Ahead of me runs Yoruichi, who is booking it down the pathway like there’s no tomorrow. The Dangai, from what I vaguely remember and from what I can now see, is fairly dry, despite looking extremely moist.

It’s dark and it does not smell as bad as I originally thought, but it  _ is _ dense with a reiatsu that seems otherworldly. That’s probably why it’s so hard to breath in here. The reiatsu that belongs and does not seem to belong takes up every single crevice, not leaving much room left for air. The walls are much like the walls of a cave, but look as if touching them would be more like touching something like a tentacle or the inside of someone’s mouth. Because it’s dark the further we travel inside, it’s hard to see where we’re going, but luckily the ground is smooth so there isn't anything to trip on. 

“Don’t touch  _ anything _ !” Yoruichi yells back at us, “The Dangai will swallow you up if you do.”

“Is that why we can’t stop running?” Sado questions, coming up to run beside me. “Why did Urahara-san say that?”

“ _A monster walks these halls_ …” I narrate creepily, tickling up Sado’s side. He doesn’t budge but goes slightly rigid under my dancing fingers.

“That’s preposterous.” Uryu says from behind us. “Right, talking cat?”

“And stop scaring Chad, Inoue!” Ichigo scolds me.

“He's safest with me! Let's be realistic!” I shout back. “My power won't backlash like yours will!”

“ _ Yoruichi _ , and no… she’s not wrong.” Yoruichi informs us. I fist-pump and Yoruichi keeps explaining. “In the Dangai, there are two things you must watch out for, the Kōryū—which will sweep up intruders in a wind current and hold them and the Kōtotsu, which… well, I guess in terms you all can understand, is similar to a street cleaner.”

“When do we have to worry about them?” Ichigo then asks, “Is it around?”

“We should be safe for the most part… the Kōtotsu only runs-!” 

A high-pitched, girly scream comes from behind me and I turn my head, seeing Uryu slowly being dragged back into one of the walls.

“ _ See _ ! This is why we don’t wear capes!” I yell out. Sado moves to grab Uryu, ripping his cape and pulling the boy along. He tosses Uryu over his shoulder and continues running. There’s a much louder noise, similar to the vacuum sound we’d heard just before we entered. A bright light shoots out overhead and the whistling sound of something like a train and a vacuum is heard, “I’m guessing this is the Kōtotsu?”

“Your guesses are always spot on, Hoshiko.” Yoruichi picks her pace. “Let’s move, we get caught and we’re finished!” 

The group of us seems to pick up speed and I slow so that I’m the last one out. “Look, there’s the exit!” Looking ahead, there’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel, but behind us, the Kōtotsu is barreling towards us at a speed that can probably only rival Yoruichi.

“Go! Go!” I shout, using my shield to push Sado and Ichigo out. Sado reaches back just as my shield disperses and in a 

burst of speed, I sprint forward, catching his hand. Sado yanks me, pulling me out, just before the Dangai closes off and the Kōtotsu can get us. “ _ Santen Kesshun _ ! I reject!” I call out before we can hit the ground.

Sado lands easily on my shield, squatting to keep balance, but Ichigo, Uryu and Yoruichi have a much hard time gaining their footing. They smack into the shield and groan while I land gently on it, the only one being able to stand.

“No capes, Uryu!” I yell at the boy. “Jeez, think of the food!”

“Is that  _ all  _ you can think about?” Uryu sits up, “We almost died!”

“We can’t die here,” Sado quietly says, “I don’t have life insurance.”

“Because of  _ your _ cape! Sado doesn’t have life insurance and I know I sure as hell don’t! Next time, no capes!” I shout back, checking my bag to make sure everything is fine. When I’m satisfied, I stand. “Okay, shield’s done.” 

The shield loses its form and the fairies return to their dormant form while Uryu and Ichigo grunt upon hitting the ground. “Thanks, guys.” I tap the hairpins, which seem to spark under my fingers.

“Well… good work…?” Yoruichi seems unsure of whether or not she should be congratulating me. Ichigo and Uryu stand up and we all take the time to look at our surroundings. In front of us is a rundown looking shanty-town with many houses all pushed pretty close together. There isn’t a soul (pun intended) out here. “This is the Rukongai.” Yoruichi supplies to our silence. “It’s where all the souls live and that…” Yoruichi points her paw towards the towering white buildings in the opposite direction. “Is the Seireitei where all the Shinigami live and work. Welcome to the Soul Society.”

I take a minute to breath it in, just as Ichigo decides to be reckless. “The Seirei-whatever, huh?” Ichigo grins, “Well, let's get going then!”

“No, Kurosaki!  _ Santen Kesshun _ , I reject!” I run, throwing my shield up in front of Ichigo, stopping him. He slams into it, falling onto the ground with a light thud.

“Inoue! What are you doing? That’s where Rukia is!” Ichigo turns to me, glaring, “We have to go there!”

“I  _ know _ that! But don’t you think this is a little  _ too _ easy?” I begin, coming closer and lowering my shield. I knew what was going to happen next—Ichigo was going to fight Jidanbō, but I wanted to prevent anything dumb from happening. “Take a minute to think. I’m sure… they probably  _ know _ that we’re coming, right? Do you  _ really _ think they’d let us in the front door? That’s why this is a  _ break-in _ and not a social call.”

Ichigo seems to think about my words and then he nods. “No, you’re right.” That surprised me, I guess at times, Ichigo was willing to listen. Inoue, you should’ve tried this approach. He looks back to the gate. “Then… what should we do?”

“I found this rock.” Sado walks over, setting down a large stone. “We could throw it?” 

“Okay, that’s not a rock, that’s a  _ boulder _ and that’s as good a place to start as any.” I admit. Ichigo stands up, dusting himself off and walking around the rock. I hadn’t thought that Ichigo would listen to me, honestly, so I hadn’t thought that far ahead on what we could do instead. 

“Wait…” Uryu comes over. He pulls out a piece of cloth and it glows slightly before he puts it on top of the boulder, making sure it sticks. “If there’s a trap, don’t you think it would react to some outside reiatsu?” 

“Oh, good idea.” I say. “Guys, look at this teamwork. The Rukia Rescue Squad is already workin’ together so well. I'm proud of us.”

Sado then picks up his boulder and chucks it. The boulder doesn’t get very far, since it’s slammed down and crushed immediately by the gate that comes down. We back up, getting away from the falling stones and I put up my shield, just in case. When the flying debris and dust cloud clears, we see a large man land with a deafening thud on the ground. I fall into Sado who helps me stand as we look up.

“Hm, thought you could enter the Seireitei so easily?” The man laughs, almost condescendingly, “Well, you thought  _ wrong _ !”

“I told you.” I deadpan, looking to Ichigo and dropping the shield. “Good thing you listened or that piece of rock there? Your head. And that one? Probably an arm. Just... think of every piece of that rock as what your body could have been.”

“Sh-Shut up.” Ichigo stands to his full height, looking at Jidanbō. “Who are you? Why won’t you let us pass?”

“Because it’s my job to not let any outsiders in. My name is Ikkanzaka Jidanbō and I… am the keeper of the White Road Gate!” He bellows, “Who are you?”

“Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami.” Ichigo places a hand on his Zanpakutō. And he said he didn't do hero poses. What a  _ liar _ .

“Kurosaki Ichigo, huh?” Jidanbō repeats. “That's a pretty cute and not at all menacing name for someone who seems to take himself so seriously.”

“Yeah, ain’t our li’l strawberry just the cutest? Thinks he's all that and a bag of corn chips, this one.” I grip Ichigo’s arm, grinning. Jidanbō chuckles slightly.

“Look! Ichigo isn't a cute name! ‘Ichi’ is for Number one and ‘Go’ is for protect, okay!” Ichigo retorts, pushing me away. “And get off me, Inoue!”

“Yeah, whatever.” Jidanbō looks us over, “And you all?”

"I’m Inoue Hoshiko, part-timer at Urahara Shoten.” I pipe in, “That’s Sado Yasutora, local musician and lady killer and that’s… Ishida Uryu, King of Cold Shoulders.”

“We  _ can _ introduce ourselves, you know.” Uryu grumbles, “And I do  _ not _ give people the cold shoulder.”

“I liked my introduction.” Sado murmurs from behind me. Well, at least  _ someone _ liked my humor.

“You sure? It’s pretty frosty over here, right Sado?” Sado rubs his arms, pretending to be cold. Boy, was it nice having someone who just agreed with me. “Like I  _ said _ , King of Cold Shoulders. Can you feel it too, large man?”

“Enough of this!” Jidanbō bangs his hand on the ground, shaking it. “What is your purpose here? It's been decades since someone tried to enter illegally.”

“We got lost while having a nice stroll through the countryside, me and my three boyfriends and cat, what do you think?” I grit out, crossing my arms. “C’mon, it’s not that hard to guess why we’re here.”

“We’re here for Kuchiki Rukia!” Ichigo yells over me, “So we’re gonna need to get in there and soon.” Jidanbō seems surprised at what Ichigo’s said and surveys the rest of us. “And you ain’t stoppin’ us!”

“Oh, so  _ you’re _ the ones who entered illegally… the Ryoka. How sad, and you look to be no older than teenagers... probably running on hormones when you made the stupid decision to come here.” Jidanbō smirks. Yeah, some more than others. I stare pointedly at Ichigo, “Well, no can do. If you can’t beat me, then you can’t get in.”

“Well, I’ll just have to beat you, won’t I?” Ichigo pulls out his Zanpakutō. “Step back, guys. This is my fight.”

“Wha—Kurosaki, you can't be serious!” Uryu yells, “We don't have the time for you to—!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Anybody want a water bottle? I brought a couple.” I cut Uryu off loudly and push the other two boys back far enough, though it’s not like it matters, since Jidanbō swings one of his axes, upturning the stone and making it so we can’t see Ichigo and a good portion of their upcoming fight.

“Ichigo, are you alright?” Sado calls over the wall. He moves to go see, but I stop him.

“Yeah, it'll be fine! Don't worry about it. Just wait for me.” Ichigo calls back. Still, Sado doesn't look convinced. I move to stand in front of him, shaking my head.

“Kurosaki said it was his fight, best not to get involved. If anything, we get involved and we're more than likely to be caught in Kurosaki's crossfire and not the large man's.” I tell him. “He’s strong enough to handle this, don’t worry.” The look on Sado’s face tells me he’s still worried but he doesn’t move, instead sitting down on the ground. “And if he isn’t, I’ll kick his ass. Which one I’m talking about, I’ll let you decide.”

“You have a lot of faith in Kurosaki.” Yoruichi comments, sitting on Sado’s leg. “Though it's hard to tell whether you're joking or being serious most of the time. A trait acquired from hanging around Kisuke too much, I’m sure.”

I shrug, “Eh, if it was Uryu, I  _ might _ say the same thing.” 

Uryu sputters, looking at me with wide eyes. I only had confidence in Ichigo because I knew what was going to happen. He was going to break Jidanbō’s axes and win him over with his caring, sensitive side and Jidanbō was going to lift the gate and lo and behold, Ichimaru Gin.

I wasn’t really excited for  _ that _ , since the man was still going to get injured, but it was coming. Now that we had a moment to breathe, I was going to take the time to think. “My humor isn't for everybody, I guess. But I gotta say: if I’m not making a joke, that should be your first warning.”

“You make a lot of jokes we’re unsure about as well, Yoruichi.” Sado points out, “But your sense of humor seems to be derived from others feeling pain. Like the lizard hollow swarm thing.” He shivers, as do I. I really didn’t want a repeat of that. 

“That was truly a masterpiece, you don't know what you're talking about.” Yoruichi defends. "A truly well-thought out exercise if I do say so myself."

Could this be stopped? No, it was already happening—Ichigo and Jidanbō were trading blow for blow right now and me trying to stop Jidanbō from raising the gate after they were done would be suspicious. I just had to be prepared for when Gin came. Maybe I could somehow use my shield to stop him? But I wasn’t close enough to where they were right now. I would be if Ichigo won, though. 

Even after all that training, I had only managed to be able to summon my shield quickly and multiple times—I still had the size issue when it came to shield height and the fact that I could only summon the shield about three feet away from me in each direction. Ichigo and Jidanbō were way more than three feet away, I’m sure. I needed to have a plan.

“Yoruichi,” I turn to the cat. She looks up, eyes trained on me. “…what do you think is on the other side?”

“Hmph, what do you think?” Yoruichi turns the question back at me. I hate when people do that—Urahara did that enough and I was getting sick of it. But it did make me think, I had to be cautious about this, I could reveal that I knew somewhat of what was waiting for us beyond the gate. I pause for a moment, squatting down and putting my elbows on my knees, thinking.

What could I say to her that wouldn’t give away somewhat of what I know?  “Mm… maybe some Shinigami waiting to take us in. The gates falling and Jidanbō appearing had to alert someone, right?” I finally answer, looking up for someone else’s opinion.

“You’re right.” Uryu taps his chin and agrees. “This… Jidanbō is probably their first line of defense, so there’s got to be more waiting behind the gate. We should be prepared.”

“Yes, we should be.” Yoruichi flicks her tail. “They are usually on top of who enters and leaves—having alarms when you enter illegally.” They should be more on top of who betrays and who was betrayed instead of worrying so much about us. But that was neither here nor there at the moment.

A loud scream broke me from my thoughts and I turn, seeing metal clash and scatter. I’m guessing Ichigo just broke the axes. “M-My axes!” Yup, right on the money. I could be a damn gambler at this rate.

“Did he win?” Uryu asks. I shoot Uryu a look, silently asking him how are we supposed to know if Ichigo won or not—it wasn’t like we were watching the fight. We couldn’t even see it after Jidanbō sliced his axes into the ground and created that wall between us and Ichigo. Sado stands up, cupping his mouth to yell, but I beat him to it.

“Kurosaki! You dead yet?” I call out, “Answer if you aren’t!”

“I’m fine!” Ichigo yells back. “C’mon, he said he’s gonna open the gate!” 

Sado doesn’t waste any time and runs, his arm immediately covering itself in the black symbiote. He slams straight through the rock and I throw a shield up above me to protect against the raining rocks. Uryu yelps scrambling to get underneath and nearly smacks himself in the head. Well, this was the only time it didn’t pay to be tall. Once the rock shower is over, we walk through the rubble towards Ichigo who stands amidst the broken axes.

“Yikes,” I say, stepping over the pieces of broken axe, “Too bad my healing powers can only heal  _ people _ .” As far as I knew. I hadn’t tried to heal anything else yet, but maybe in the future, I’d be able to do something like restore things to their original properties.

“For beating me… I will now open the gate for you.” Jidanbō tells us, moving to grip underneath the gate. “I hope you realize that everyone on the other side of this gate is… strong.”

“We know.” Ichigo smirks. "We've prepared for something like this."

“As long as you know.” Jidanbō then says, “Now stand back, it's been a while since I've opened this gate.” We watch—with me in awe of his strength—as he lifts the gate. And the moment he has it even slightly off the ground, I feel it.

I look to Sado, who readies himself in an attack stance and then to Uryu, who is in the position to call forth his bow. The only one who doesn’t look affected is Ichigo, who still watches Jidanbō lift the gate in awe. As Jidanbō lifts the gate higher, we finally see him. 

“Jidanbō, what's wrong?” Ichigo asks, “Why’d you stop?”

“I-Ichimaru Gin-Taichou…” Jidanbō voice quakes in fear. “Wh-What are you doing here?”

Gin stands there as if he had been waiting the entire time for us. He taps a finger against his sleeve, watching. Gin doesn’t lose his smile as he comes a little closer to the gate, his reiatsu still steadily pouring out of him and making us freeze in fear. Gin’s reiatsu… is nothing like anything I’ve ever felt before in my life—and I knew this was only the beginning. He was in a completely different realm of power than Ichigo and all of us combined at the moment. I knew that Urahara was in this realm, but he never felt like  _ this _ . 

This was… the embodiment of something that you were  _ meant  _ to fear. All that you were supposed to feel in his presence was… sick fear and helplessness and  _ pain _ and—

“Now, now…” Gin speaks, cutting through my inner reverie. “I was havin’ a feelin’ you was gonna be doin’ somethin’ stupid.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “Jidanbō, now, m’boy.” 

His accent is rather country and usually, that would be endearing and friendly, but it sounds so fake and just… plain  _ scary _ coupled with his reiatsu and unnervingly happy-looking demeanor, Ichimaru Gin is one man I don’t want to mess with right now. Before we can even see it happen, Jidanbō is screaming in pain, dropping to his knee.

Jidanbō’s arm, which hangs limply at his side now, is bleeding profusely, pooling right below him and he’s grunting in pain, trying to keep the screams from tearing from his throat, but he doesn’t let go of the gate, not yet. 

Ichigo yells, calling out the man’s name. I grip Ichigo before he can move. “Inoue, let… go…” His words die in his throat as he looks at me.

“Kurosaki, don’t rush in there stupidly. He’s… he’s a lot stronger. Can’t you feel it?” I ask him. Ichigo stops a moment, and the look in his eyes falters but doesn’t go away. I know he feels it but he’s much stronger than me. Ichigo gives me another look and I let his arm go. This was happening.

“Hey, you!” Ichigo yells, walking forward. I let him go, knowing there was no use stopping him. “Doesn’t he work with you? Why are you doing this?”

“Sado...” I say just loud enough for him to hear. 

I glance at him, noting that he’s snapped out for the moment. Gin’s focus is on Ichigo now, so we can breathe a little easier since his Killing Intent and fear-inducing reiatsu wave isn’t as strong or focused. I guess he had to focus on projecting it or else it wouldn’t go too far or have too much effect.

“Let’s go.” Sado nods and while Gin’s attention is mainly focused on Ichigo, Sado begins slowly inching towards Jidanbō, as do I. With Ichigo’s battle crying reaching my ears, I turn my gaze back to him, seeing the boy rushing at Gin, who easily dodges his first few attacks.

“Yer earnest, I like dat.” Gin smiles wider, “But t’ answer ya question—my buddy’s job ‘ere is t’  _ guard _ th’ gate… not let people  _ through _ th’ gate! Y’ lose, y’ die, it’s that simple.”

“Tch, sick bastard!” Ichigo yells, charging at Gin. Gin clashes Zanpakutō with him, though it’s clear he allowed Ichigo to do so. He didn’t need to.

“Oho, like I haven’t heard dat one b’fore.” Gin sniggers at Ichigo’s insult. “But ‘m tired o’ dis. Ya effort is real cute, buddy. But ‘s jus’ not enough.” In one swift motion, Gin smacks Ichigo away with his Zanpakutō and into Jidanbō and Sado. The force from it makes them all fly backwards and further into the Rukongai.

“Hey! Just who do you think you are?” I yell, running towards the gate as it begins closing, “Hey! I’m talking to you, you fox-faced motherfucker! Uryu! Shoot him!” Brushing past me at high speeds is Uryu’s arrow, though Gin doesn’t seem at all alarmed by it and cuts the arrow in half before it can do any damage. “Wh-What...?” I stumble back a bit, surprise clearly etched across my face. “T-Tsubaki!”

Tsubaki sparkles to life, flying through the gate and right towards Gin. Despite his best efforts, Tsubaki only manages to slice Gin’s cheek before retreating back to my side so that he doesn't get stabbed. I breathe out in slight relief, I couldn’t afford to lose Tsubaki.

“Oh, so harsh~! But I like y’! A hardy li’l bird, aren’t ya? Normally ‘m all for ih, but...  _ Ryoka need to learn their place _ .” His tone changes immediately, along with the slightest sliver of his eyes being shown. It flashes for a moment before he closes them once more and grins widely, wiping his cheek. “Dun let dat discourage ya! I look forward t’ playin’ wit ya later… now buh-bye!” 

Gin waves at us as if we were old friends from school and the gate closes with a heavy slam, a dust cloud rising in its wake. I grunt, turning back to where Uryu and Yoruichi stand.

“Let’s go check on the others.” Yoruichi finally says. I nod, running with Uryu over to where the three had landed.

* * *

 

“Wonderful idea, bright eyes.” Yoruichi paws at Ichigo to get him to open his eyes. Ichigo snaps them open, looking around. Upon surveying him initially, it doesn’t look like he’s injured and he stands, dusting himself off. “Attacking a captain like that.”

“Hey, he started it, hurting Jidanbō like that when he did nothing wrong! You should never attack your comrade, no matter what.” Ichigo sneers, turning to look at Jidanbō. “Are you alright?” Whatever Jidanbō says to him is lost on me, since he isn’t speaking that loudly.

“Hoi, hoi.” I stretch, “Looks like it’s my time to shine.” I walk towards Jidanbō, looking him over. “Do you have any other injuries?” I then look to Sado, who only dusts himself off, shaking his head. I nod firmly to him. He was fine, for the most part. Probably a little shaken like Ichigo, but otherwise, normal.

“N-No…” He breathes out, labored and slow, “Just… my arm…” At my request, Sado tears the rest of Jidanbō’s sleeve off for easier access and to see his wound better. The cloth lands wetly on the dirt and we’re able to see the extent to which Gin’s attack had pierced him. Despite him only getting hit once, Gin’s attack nearly mangled Jidanbō’s arm.  

The blood continues to slide down his arm, nearly coating it completely in the slick red and it’s nearly hanging off, merely the skin hanging on by the bone. Gin really managed to do a number on him. It’s rather nasty to look at, I won’t lie, but the fact that I know Jidanbo needs my help keeps me from gagging and wanting to look away. Instead, I allow myself to grimace before I steady myself, pinching my arm. I was the healer, I couldn’t flinch at this sight. To my left, I can hear Uryu grunting and gagging. He looks much, much paler than usual and is shaking and panting. He presses a hand to his mouth and I can see his knuckles turning completely white.

“I… I… going to go stand over there…” Uryu all but runs away from us.

“What’s up with him?” Ichigo asks, seemingly not at all bothered by this. But then again, I guess you just grow immune when you're out here killing monsters on the daily. Plus, let’s be honest, Ichigo had been getting injuries like this ever since he first started as a Shinigami. This probably wasn’t new to him at all.

“He’s... pretty squeamish around blood and injuries like this. I mean, it’s not everyday someone gets cut to the bone by a super-powered stretchy sword thingy. Sado, can you...?” I comment, looking to Sado. 

He nods once more and I hear his footsteps retreat. I already know what’s up with Uryu, but I can’t really say anything, well, anything more than what I know. Uryu had, in the past, covered my cuts up when I had sewing incidents, but still, that was rather different from this. I couldn’t let anybody know what I knew. So many questions would arise if I did. 

“Ayame, Shun’o! Looks like it’s your time to shine!  _ Sōten Kesshun _ , I reject!” I hold my hands out, focusing on Jidanbō’s wound. “Don’t worry, I’ll have you fixed up in no time.”

Ichigo stabs Zangetsu into the ground and sits down near me, looking up at Jidanbō. “So that’s the power of a captain…” He remarked, leaning back on his hands. “It’s... incredible. I mean, I faced Byakuya... he’s Rukia’s brother or something, I think she called him, but still... that guy was...”

The wonder and awe in Ichigo’s voice is something else. He sounds... kind of excited? I don’t know exactly how to place the emotion, but his voice quakes with it. It’s not fear--not all the way at least--but something like recognition? In the presence of so much power, Ichigo didn’t feel fear as the forefront emotion like the rest of us did. That was the gap in power between us. And the sooner I learned to let go of my fear, the sooner I could stand on equal footing with Ichigo.

Right about now, I was just trailing behind him--we all were. 

“Zangetsu didn’t even phase him.” Ichigo continues, not at all losing that tone. 

Gin didn’t even  _ look  _ like he was trying when he held Zangetsu back. And he probably wasn’t. That is the power of a captain and it was overwhelming. The way he cut Uryu’s arrow like it was a sheet of paper? 

“Uryu’s arrow didn’t even make him blink.” I add in. “And I only managed to cut his cheek and I'd been really trying. Though, it seemed like he wanted me to do that.”

I blinked away the remembrance of how his reiatsu felt. It wasn’t suffocating, but it was hard to breathe in and the moment it lessened, I felt like the air was safe to breath. His reiatsu made me feel that if I had stayed anywhere near him, I was going to get hurt—I could only  _ imagine _ what Aizen’s reiatsu was like. 

“ _ Now _ do you understand why we need to exercise caution?” Yoruichi asks, her tail curling around my leg. I can feel anger radiating off of her and my only saving grace being that I'm healing, so she couldn't hit me or distract me too much, but I knew she was upset. “These captains are not a joke. Their reiatsu is far, far greater than anything you’ve seen yet. As Hoshiko said, he cut Uryu’s arrow in half. A Quincy arrow, with little regard for anything. Hoshiko, he could have stabbed you and killed you had you gotten any closer. He could have so easily killed Tsubaki as well.”

“I know.” I reply. “It was a careless mistake. I just...” I don't even know what I was trying to do. If Ichigo and Uryu couldn't put a dent on him, what could I personally do?

Yoruichi pauses, sighing, “These people are born killers, their skills honed over time. Their reiatsu should be enough to send you all running for the hills. Especially Gin, as he is a captain. His Killing Intent is so subtle, it sneaks up on you. Surely you felt it.” I nod, it was the very first thing I felt.

“I didn’t until Inoue grabbed my arm. I felt his reiatsu then.” Ichigo answered, “But I was calm, still… something about your reiatsu…”

His words made me think. Did my reiatsu have a calming effect on others? I remember it worked for Sado when Ichigo and Uryu went against the Menos Grande, but was it actually true? It seemed to work once again for Ichigo, but this time, it wasn’t intentional. I guess my reiatsu had leaked out, trying to calm Ichigo down without me knowing about it. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but at least it seemed like it had helped him think a little before rushing in all crazy.

“At any rate,” I say, checking the progress of Ayame and Shun’o, “We need to find some other way in. If we try to use the gate again, same thing might happen.”

“I’m sorry…” Ichigo runs a hand through his hair. He sounds really upset and I can understand why—the gate was our ‘one’ main entrance in, but I wasn’t worried because I knew we had another way of entry.

“Don’t be.” Yoruichi replied, “Kisuke and I were prepared for something like this. If  _ that person _ is around… we have a sure-fire way into the Seireitei.”

“Yeah, Kurosaki.” I nudge him with my free leg, “Even if we had managed to get in, we still would’ve been caught at the door most likely. That man’s strength was no joke, so it’s probably better that we didn’t get in right away. Though, I do still think we have time before anything happens to Rukia.”

I knew we had time, since travelling the Dangai like we did was a time anomaly, but I wasn’t sure how much time we had between her execution and now. It was to be a couple more days. Nearly fifteen minutes pass silently, with me watching Ayame and Shun’o heal Jidanbō’s arm intently. A glance shows me that Ichigo is also watching while Yoruichi is napping, though I know she isn’t fully unaware.

“This is... amazing.” Ichigo breathes, “I’ve never seen healing like this.”

“Well yeah,” I scoff, scratching my leg with my free one. Dammit, I hated compliments! “One of a kind girl, one of a kind powers. You probably won’t see something like this for years.”

“I never got a chance to see you or Chad’s new powers in person, so I don't know what you're capable of.” Ichigo comments.

“Yeah, well you ain't seen nothin’ yet. This is just one of my many powers. You did see my shield before, though.” 

“Ah, yeah… Are you tired?” Ichigo asks, weirdly concerned. “He’s healing pretty well, maybe you can take a break?”

“No,” I shake my head, “You did your part and now I have to do mine. I can’t stop until he’s fully healed. Besides, it shouldn’t take much longer.” 

Well, it looked like it wouldn’t, but I couldn’t be too sure. This was the longest I’d ever healed anybody, and it was quietly sapping my reiryoku, but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Luckily my reiryoku reserves were replenished completely before we left.

And that I’d only used a little bit upon entering. Also, the air here felt... different. Infused with natural reiatsu, so I think that also had a hand in why I wasn’t as tired as I thought I should be with healing of this level.

We were lucky, I think. At this point, I hadn’t managed to mess anything up. We were making good time and if we continued on this path, then things should stay about the same as they were when Inoue and them had come here. Everything checked out: we arrived ahead of schedule, Ichigo fought the gate keeper, Gin appeared, I’m currently healing Jidanbō and... well, we would soon find our way to Kūkaku’s home.

As long as I didn’t somehow mess this up, things would work out.

But knowing me, somehow I was going to fuck this up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here we start the soul society arc! good stuff happening here. and well, not so good stuff.
> 
> tbh when i initially wrote this chapter, i had it much much longer, but i broke it up into 2 parts bc i added some stuff to it and i really don’t wanna have super long chapters. i already know that chapter wise, this arc will be short bc c’mon, it’s like they’re there in soul society as a whole for... six days. like i mapped out the original timeline thanks to the bleach wiki and it was 2 days they spent in rukongai and four days until ruki’s execution so six days and then the last episode of the arc took place a week later. for such an important arc, it was actually rly short. da surprise


	18. Soul Society: The Sneak Entry Arc: Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of dialogue heavy in the beginning bc Uryu and Hoshiko can’t shut up about flaunting their knowledge about spirit stuff & making our dear strawberry look bad lmao. Those fuckin losers. 
> 
> Not too much action this time, but new character! Or, correction, new character that Hoshiko hates. At least Hoshiko & Ichigo tag team insults. Now they just need to learn to tag team when fighting and we'd be good to go.

“You there!” Someone from around us called. From my peripheral, Ichigo stood, grabbing his Zanpakutō. “P-Please! We mean no harm!” Because I had to stay focused on watching Ayame and Shun’o heal, I couldn’t look, but he and Yoruichi could.

“You’re… the souls of the Rukongai?” Ichigo questioned them. “What’s up, what do you need?”

“We’d… like to thank you… for helping Jidanbō.” Whoever that is spoke, “He’s a very integral part of our community…”

“Oh, it ain’t no thang.” I say, “I mean, he was willing to let us in after he was beaten.” I look up at Jidanbō’s face. He’s breathing much easier, though it’s clear he’s already passed out. My healing couldn't take away the pain someone already felt. The job was almost done despite the severity of his wound.

“She’s right.” Ichigo chimes in, “That fox-faced assclown is the one to blame for this. He didn’t have to do that! Especially to someone he’s supposed to be working with.”

“You are correct...” The person spoke again, “However, there isn’t much we can do about it for now. We are merely souls with no spiritual energy of our own…”

Ichigo grunts, clicking his teeth as if to protest, “We can still--”

“Ichigo, no.” Yoruichi slapped him with her tail on his leg. “It’s no problem, elder.” Yoruichi adopts a diplomatic tone.

“We’d like to thank you by giving you food, shelter, anything you might need for the night.” The Elder continues, “We don’t have much, but we offer what we can.”

“Thank you, we do need a place to stay tonight, and some directions, if you’d be so kind.” Yoruichi says, “Hoshiko, stop healing him. His arm looks strange.”

“O-Oh!” I quickly put my hands down and Ayame and Shun’o return to their normal forms, floating in front of me. Jidanbō’s arm does look odd—it looks malnourished in a way, almost as if it doesn’t completely fit in with his body. “What happened?”

“His arm started reverting...” Shun’o says cryptically, “It’s best to pay closer attention when you heal, Hoshiko.” I nod, looking at the fairies. “You’re still new to prolonged healing, and so are we, so there might be side effects when you do it. We’ll try to help as best we can, but it’s hard to speak with you while healing since we, too, need to focus on the job.”

“Right, I’ll pay closer attention until I get the hang of it.” I nod at him. I didn’t heal often—since I was mostly focused on trying to be a better fighter, but I couldn’t neglect Ayame and Shun’o’s abilities to heal—it was still an integral part of my powers. “Thanks to you both.”

“S-So this... is the Soul S-Society?” Ayame questions, looking around, “I l-like our world b-better.”

“So do I...” I murmur, looking to the elder, “Is it okay to just leave him out here? Is there anywhere he can go?” Just then, Sado and Uryu come back over, curious looks on their faces.

“Jidanbō  _ does _ have a home, but we are all too weak to carry him there.” The Elder tells us, looking him over, “I will have some people stay with him until he wakes up.”

“S-Sado-san! Is that you?” A small boy pushes through the crowd. He has mousy brown hair and is a blur of speed as he barrels into Sado’s legs, wrapping his arms around him. “It is you! I’m so happy!”

“Y-Yuichi?” Sado blinks after a few moments. The boy pulls away, nodding rapidly, his smile practically taking up all of his face.

“It’s me! You’re here! Wh... Why are you here?” Yuichi looks confused, fear in his eyes. “You’re not...  _ are you _ ?”

“No, none of us are,” Sado looks back towards us. Yuichi glances at us and I wave, before he turns back to Sado. “We’re here to rescue a friend.”

“Oh... that’s good! I’m glad you’re here then!” Yuichi launches into a rapid pace of speaking, leaving Sado to only nod before he’s pulled off by the boy.

“Hey, Chad--”

“Leave him, there’s nothing we can do now,” Yoruichi stops Ichigo, “We’ll go to the Elder’s home later on and I’ll speak with him about this person I know and where to find them. For now, just stick around the village and don’t go too far. I know we’re on a crunch, but at the moment, there’s nothing we can do.”

Yoruichi strutted away not too long after that, leaving Ichigo and I by ourselves. 

I turn to him, waving over Uryu who approaches slowly. “...So, y’all wanna eat?” 

He’s looking much better than he had when he left, but he’s still a little pale and kind of sweaty looking. “Best not to do anything on an empty stomach.”

“I... could...” Ichigo finally answers after what looks like a lot of internal debate. 

He probably didn’t want to be idle for the time being, when Rukia’s time was ticking down—I understood, but there really was nothing we could do, going to another gate would take much, much longer to do, I'm sure. 

With the souls getting back to their usual business, and a couple of them coming over to relieve us of watching Jidanbō; Ichigo, Uryu and I walk a little ways away, finding a spot underneath the bridge over the small river that ran through the village.

“So, Uryu,” I question, settling down on the river’s edge, “Do you just carry around a pack of Quincy Capes from The Quincy Store to have at the ready?” Ichigo snorts at my words, “Cause, I distinctly remember Sado ripping your cape. Or did you repair it?”

“I simply replaced it.” Uryu replies, “I always carry spares. You never know when... well, when you’re going to almost get eaten by a Shinigami Street cleaner. A sentence I never thought I would say.”

“This is true.” I nod, “Or when you’re going to be attacked by a wall. And then a giant man with giant axes... and then a smaller man with a long sword.”

“Speaking of the giant man, you didn’t flinch at all at... the sight of him in that state, Hoshiko-san. And I must say, your healing powers are interesting.” Uryu begins as I pass out the sandwiches I made. I decided sandwiches would be easily than making something extravagant like pasta, since there probably wasn’t anything like a microwave in these parts. 

“The one moment, his arm is in a ghastly state and the next… it’s almost as if he was never injured in the first place. Although, I haven’t really seen any healing powers that the Shinigami use often—aside from Urahara-san’s—I’m more than sure your healing is a cut above the rest.”

“Well, it’s not anything that I haven’t seen before. Sure, not as  _ grotesque _ , but... it’s been a while since I’ve been involved with all this spiritual mumbo-jumbo. Plus. it wasn’t that bad,” I shrug, looking down at my hands. It was that bad. It was really awful, actually. 

“Though, the thing about my healing ability is... well, simply put, it’s different, like you said. Unlike regular healing powers, like Urahara and Tessai-san’s, my healing doesn’t leave behind a mark at all. I can’t describe it fully yet, but, I thought it was just healing, but there’s drawbacks to this too.” Uryu raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue, “My hands have been numb for at least the past fifteen minutes and I’m starting to worry, because I can use them, but it doesn't feel like the numbness of like when a body part falls asleep.”

“Hmm, let me see.” Uryu holds his hands out. I shift, so that one leg is up on the ledge and the other is still dangling over it, and hold my hands out. Uryu moves his thumbs around on my hands, and slowly, the feeling starts to come back. “You had a lot of built of Reiryoku in your hands. It was making your hands numb, probably while it was trying to make its way out for usage in your healing.”

I hum, nodding, “Jeez, I thought this was the only power without a drawback...” Tsubaki’s power’s drawback was that he was vulnerable to outside attacks—meaning if he got hit even once and injured or my willpower wasn’t enough, his attack power was halved greatly. With the shields, well, it was the size issue and that I couldn’t create them far from myself.

“It should be fine if you learn to release Reiryoku before you feel it build up too much. How long had you been doing it?” Uryu asks.

“I think it was about an hour or so.” I shrug. I wasn’t really sure how much time had passed, but it was around when the blood stopped pouring out of his arm that my fingertips felt numb.

“Reiryoku slowly builds up in certain body parts after a lot of usage and too much build up can result in, well, let's just say you'll end up looking more like Jidanbō-san’s arm than yourself. But the thing is, you healing someone for approximately an hour shouldn't have pushed you like this, but, then again it is a more concentrated power. You're healing someone, just not using it for attacks, so there's obviously a lot more going on, however, it still shouldn't have built up like this.” Uryu explains, “Do you put Reiryoku into your hands often?”

“Sometimes when I want more strength for Hakuda—but I’ve only done it a couple of times.” I tell him. Uryu nods, grabbing his sandwich.

A glance over at Ichigo shows me that he's clearly lost in the conversation but somewhat intrigued. I guess Rukia didn't do much in the way of teaching him about this type of stuff.

“Like Kurosaki over here,” Uryu looks to the boy. Ichigo looks at him, glaring, “You’re rather well off in the reiatsu department and as such, no matter what you do, you will have a lot of build-up of Reiryoku and it needs to be released sometimes—not often, but sometimes. After this, your hands shouldn’t get numb when you heal for quite some time.”

“Well, glad to see that this isn’t an every time type deal. Thanks, Uryu.” I slap his back, picking up my own sandwich.

Uryu grunts, biting into his own sandwich. I guess I needed to figure out how to release Reiryoku when my hands started to feel like this. But it was odd—if Ayame and Shun’o were doing the healing, why was it that I was the one getting numb? Did they too get numb from healing for too long?

I didn’t know yet, since this had been the longest healing job I’d done yet and I couldn’t ask them, since they had gone right back to the hairclips after talking a bit. They were probably really tired. Tatsuki and Chizuru were quick and healing Sado after training didn’t take more than a second to do. I was quick with healing, but could only heal one person—or heavily wounded body part, apparently—at a time.

* * *

Time passes slowly and by sunset, we’re all split up amongst the town. Uryu and I walk down the roads of the Rukon District together while Ichigo has wandered off somewhere on his own.

“…Uryu.” I pause, looking him over. 

He stops walking and looks over at me. “Yes?”

“All my jokes aside, I’m just wondering... Why… why did you decide to come?” I ask him. I had been wondering for a while—Uryu wasn't exactly the closest to us or to Rukia even, so it was a wonder why he decided to go with us, “I mean, n-not that I’m unhappy you're here, I just… I'd like to know your reasoning.”

“My reasons are much more selfish than yours, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu pushes up his glasses. “I merely want to test my strength against shinigami and, well… there's something I'd like to find out.”

I hum, nodding. “…I see.” I don't know what Uryu wanted to find out specifically, but I knew it had something to do with his grandfather's death, but what exactly he wanted to know was unknowing to me. And I didn't want to push Uryu to tell me anything. Something like that was rather personal, and Uryu was already a private person. It was such a wonder that we were now on a first name basis which was really intimate to the Japanese.

“I'm not very well acquainted with Kuchiki-san.” Uryu continues, “Unlike you and Kurosaki, though I don't think it's right she be executed for something as minuscule as this.”

I nod once more, looking Uryu over. I decide to ask him what had been on my mind for a while. “Do you think we’re strong enough?”

“Truthfully…I don't know.” Uryu sighs, “But I do know that we've all trained hard for this, and if we were to fail, this training would be for nothing. We must do everything in our power not to fail. Do not worry, Hoshiko-san. If we all stick together, I’m sure things will work out.”

If only we  _ could  _ stick together. I shake my head, smiling slightly. “Yeah, you're right. I'm worried for nothing. C’mon, let's go find the others and Yoruichi. I'm getting hungry. I only made lunch for the one day since that’s all that would fit.”

Eventually, we find Sado wandering without Yuichi and Yoruichi comes to retrieve us. For the night, the village’s elder has allowed us to stay in his house and we eat dinner with him, afterwards, Yoruichi decides that we need to get back to our plan. Sado suggests finding another gate, but Yoruichi responds with telling him that we’re on a time crunch and we don’t have time to go find another gate when the same thing might happen again.

“So… what can we do now?” Ichigo asks, “What about this person you mentioned earlier?”

“Ah, yes.” Yoruichi licks her paw, looking up at the elder. “Elder, do you know someone named… Shiba Kūkaku?” The elder seems shocked, almost worried when he nods slightly.

“Is it me… or does the elder not look too happy about this Kūkaku person?” I nudge Uryu. He leans over, nodding.

“I wonder what kind of person they are?” Uryu remarked, “I mean… for such a reaction from the elder…” Uryu trails his sentence and there’s a loud noise outside—almost like rhythmic… grunting and suddenly, the door is knocked in and someone is laying on its remnants. Ichigo moves to draw Zangetsu while the rest of us get into defensive positions.

“Who the hell is this?” I look to the elder who only sighs. Clearly, he’s dealt with this before. When the man gets up, I can only vaguely recognize him. He’s rather… unfortunate-looking.

“Hmph,” He dusts himself off as if he hadn’t been thrown through a door, “Elder! It’s been a long time.”

“Who?” Ichigo asks, looking over the man. “Who are you?”

“Ganju, no!” The elder’s voice is hoarse as he tries to raise it to seem threatening, but he just sounds like he’s been smoking too much. Ganju eyes Ichigo with something like disgusted interest.

Ganju is, for all intents and purposes, a very awful-looking man and he seems to think that putting some bass in his voice that doesn’t exist, makes him cooler. Spoiler Alert: it does not.

“What? Who in the hell decided some stupid Shinigami could be here?” Ganju sneers, sauntering closer to Ichigo. The two then stand face to face and I’m eating up the drama. I only remember that someone he knew was killed, so now he hates Shinigami but I can’t remember why this person was killed or who exactly did it.

“Hey, who are you?” I question him again. He casts a glance my way and only rolls his eyes.

“This is between me and him, Red. Don’t get involved in things you don’t understand.” He breathes out through his nose sharply, “Typical woman.”

“Wh-What did you just say?” I move to cross the room, but Ganju is already taunting Ichigo, who easily punches him across the room.

“That one was for Inoue, next one is from me if you don’t explain yourself.” Ichigo cracks his knuckles. “Who the hell are you and why did you just bust through that door?”

“I’m still gonna wanna fight this two-bit loser.” I crack my knuckles, my gaze now turned towards Ganju who is yelling at Ichigo.

“Hey! That should’ve been  _ my _ line! Trying to pick a fight, Shinigami?” He yelps, standing, “What’s the big idea here?”

“We should be asking  _ you  _ the same thing!” Ichigo steps forward, “You come in here, picking on me and insulting my friends—who the hell do you think you are, you—!”

“Wait, you  _ really _ don’t know who I am?” Ganju questions earnestly, looking incredulous.

“Old man, stop your tea-drinking like this is a daily occurrence and help us out, who is this guy?” I hear Uryu scold the old man from behind me.

Ganju brushes a thumb against his nose, shaking his head. “Hmph, I guess it can’t be helped… I’ll tell you who I am. I’m… the self-proclaimed deep red bullet of West Rukongai… and the self-proclaimed but Rukongai-renowned boss of this area! And finally…” He strikes a third pose, smirking as he tries to finish his line, too bad he won’t be able to. I run, jumping off the small ledge and slamming my foot into his stomach. He goes flying out into the doorframe and smacks his head against it.

Mess with the bull, you get the horns. Red heads aren't just fiery in appearance, you know.

“Wow, Inoue…” Uryu blankly says. I turn to look at him, “We still don’t know who he is and he might be unconscious.”

“Or dead… again.” Sado adds in. “I wonder if he has insurance.”

“Sado-san…” Uryu says, shaking slightly in amusement. “I-I'm... _pretty sure_ insurance isn't a thing here…”

“Typical _idiot_.” I say, rolling my eyes. “He was taking too long. And I hate long-winded speeches. Oi, Hoshiko-proclaimed  _ dumbass _ , are you still awake?”

“Wh-What did you say, girl?” Ganju is quick to stand, glaring at me.

“You heard her—she said you’re a dumbass, and that’s pretty much the one title I agree with.” Ichigo walks up next to me. “Or does she have to repeat herself because your stupidity is too loud?” Okay, I gotta admit, Ichigo did just come up with a great insult. I’m not even mad, because it was pretty good.

Apparently, our insults are getting to him, because Ganju moves to attack. He doesn’t look like he knows who to go for first, but I make the choice easy for him. I go low, sliding my foot into his and having him slam into Ichigo.

Ichigo grunts, the two of them falling to the ground in a pile of limbs which is quickly transformed into a fight. In their scuffle, Ganju somehow gets the upper hand and he tosses Ichigo out of the door, breathing roughly. Before any of us can act, Ganju himself has pretty much flown out the door after Ichigo. 

“Kurosaki! Punch him in the nuts, he’ll go down like a rock!” Uryu and Sado join me in trying to leave the house, but we’re stopped by Ganju’s henchmen.

“If you wanna get to our big brother…” The group of them begins, “You gotta get through us first.”

“That won’t be a problem…” I roll up my sleeve, moving to go after them when Sado grabs my arm, shaking his head. “C’mon, Sado, I can handle them.”

“It’d be a one-sided fight, I don’t want to see a massacre tonight, Hoshiko.” Sado says, his grip on me not slacking at all. You spend two weeks with someone and somehow they end up knowing your whole life story.

“Fine, I guess you’re right.” I sigh, stepping in line with them. “Besides, I don’t condone animal cruelty—and I’m  _ not _ talking about the boars.”

“C’mon, get serious! You really think I’m gonna let some stupid Shinigami into the west rukonga— _ oof _ !” Ichigo rears up, kicking Ganju in the face.

“Ooh, Kurosaki! Get ‘im with the one-two!” I make punching motions, “And then hold ‘im, so I can get him too!”

“You’d do well to mind that tone of yours!” Ganju yells over at me, covering his mouth, “I ain’t afraid to hit no girl!” When I finally got my hands on that guy, he’d be dead meat. Just wait and see. Oh, I hated him now. 

“C’mon, shut up, will you, freak-of-nature?” Ichigo stands, wiping his mouth, “If you wanna fight, I’ll fight you, but stop talking. I think I’m catching your stupid. Besides, better you fight me anyway. I hate to say it, but I know firsthand that Inoue’d kick the ugly right outta you.”

“Y-You bastard…” Ganju covers his mouth, where I can see some blood coming out from his nose. Good for his ass, he needs to be beat up. “You punched my ruggedly handsome face… not once, but  _ twice _ ! Unforgivable! It makes it even worse that you’re a Shinigami…”

“Rugged is one word for it—atrocious is another, but let’s not play the word game.” I comment. “And actually, it was a kick the second time. Maybe you’re a little more messed up than we thoguht! Kurosaki, it’s not nice to pick on the less fortunate. Besides, if you touch him again, you might catch his stupid! Be careful!”

“I’ll do my best, but it seems like just looking at him has dropped my IQ by twenty points.” Ichigo replies, cracking his knuckles. To my amusement, Ganju looks legitimately offended. He stands there, face turning red as he sputters and flails for a response. Us teenagers, too quick with the comebacks it seems.

“Okay, that’s enough fighting from Kurosaki and enough insults from  _ you _ .” Yoruichi looks pointedly at the both of us, “I can’t take any of you anywhere... Kurosaki, don’t use up your strength on this! Is he even worth your time?”

“Look, Yoruichi, normally, I’d agree with you, but he dismissed me like I was a fuckin’ hood ornament and when I finally get my hands on homeboy, he’s gonna be standing outside in someone’s yard, attached to a stick, Vlad the Impaler style.” Sado gagged while Uryu choked shaking his head. They didn’t realize that I was actually kind of serious. Ganju was an annoying character. Sure, he did have his reasons, but he didn’t have to be an asshole about it.

“ _ He _ started the fight!” Came Ichigo’s own reply, “If you want us to stop, tell him that.”

Yoruichi made a grunting noise, but otherwise didn’t say anything else. The cat probably knew that trying to stop Ichigo now wouldn’t be very likely.

“Ganju, stop this now! They’re good people—he’s a  _ good _ Shinigami!” The elder finally decides to come outside.

“Took him long enough…” Uryu murmurs as Ganju turns to look at the elder, having drawn his short sword.

“Uryu, he's old. If he walks any faster, he might break a hip.” I nudge Uryu. He huffs, crossing his arm.

“Shinigami are Shinigami—they’re all evil bastards, they don’t change.” Ganju narrows his eyes and with a battle cry, he runs towards Ichigo.

“Tch, not good, Kurosaki doesn’t have his Zanpakutō.” Uryu points out, and before we can say anything else, Sado steps between us and tosses the Zanpakutō towards Ichigo.

“Thanks, Chad!” Ichigo grunts, the bandages around his Zanpakutō uncoiling.

“Hah, so there it is… The Zanpakutō.” Ganju slides, clashing his sword with Ichigo’s. “Don’t think because you have a bigger weapon, you’re going to win against me!” The two stay locked in their clash and very slightly, I see Ganju move his foot in a circle.

“He’s doing something…” I nudge Uryu and Sado, pointing at the ground, which looks weird around where Ganju’s foot had been.

Ganju cackles, it steadily getting louder as he yells, “Sink!” Ganju then pushes Ichigo’s Zanpakutō into the ground, much to everyone’s surprise.

“What technique is this?” Ichigo shouts, trying to no avail to pull his Zanpakutō up and out of the ground.

“It’s like… quicksand!” Uryu blurted as the Zanpakutō goes into the ground almost to the hilt. Ganju uses Ichigo’s moment of confusion to kick him, sending Ichigo a few feet away.

“Oh, he’s such an asshole. Let me fight him! One of my attacks and he’s a goner!” Sado holds me back, unsure if I’m kidding or not. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m kidding or not.

“Weird tricks… won’t help you out!” Ichigo yells back at Ganju, who stands there, looking triumphant. He doesn’t waste another moment and runs at Ichigo with another battle cry. Ganju raises his sword, bringing it down to slam into Ichigo, but Ichigo blocks his wrist, grabbing Ganju’s and pulling him forward into a waiting punch.

Ganju is sent back a few feet and a whole new rush of blood begins pouring out of his nose. Uryu turns away, obviously looking sick. “All I can say is… if that didn’t put you down… you’re pretty tough.”

Ganju doesn’t respond and only tries to run at Ichigo without his sword. Then, without fanfare, the two begin trading blow for blow, which eventually ends when Ichigo sees an opening and tosses Ganju over his shoulder. Ganju lands with a dull thump and picks himself up quickly.

“What’s a-matter?” Ichigo taunts, “Not done, are you?” Ganju picks up his pace, running towards Ichigo… only to be stopped when a large clock begins ringing. All of us turn our attention towards the clock, which is strapped to one of Ganju’s henchmen.

“Wh-Wh-What time is it?” Ganju’s voice quakes.

“It’s nine already, bro!” The henchmen yells, “Oh, this is gonna be bad!”

“Beyond bad! No, we gotta go! Bonnie!” Ganju whistles loudly.

“Kurosaki, look out!” I move, running through the henchmen easily. “Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily! Santen Kesshun, I reject!” I slide, skidding across the dirt and using my shield to knock Ichigo out of the way and into the wall.

“Ow!” Ichigo grunts upon slamming into the wall. The boar jumps overhead, knocking into Ganju and sending him flying.

“Hah! That’s the way, Bonnie, but not today! We gotta go!” Ganju motions the boar closer. I get up and Ichigo grabs me just in time, pulling me out of the rampaging boar’s path.

“Whew, lucky…” I breathe out, looking to Ichigo, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” He replies, turning to see that Ganju is trying to make his getaway. “H-Hey!” Ichigo lets go of me and moves away, running after Ganju, “Where you goin’? We didn’t settle this yet! Running like a coward isn’t gonna solve your problems!”

“Believe me!” Ganju calls back, “I’m not runnin’! I’ll be back tomorrow to kick your ass!” Ganju points at Ichigo, “You just wait for me, cause I’ll be back to settle this once and for all!”

“You don’t get to just up and leave in the middle of a fi--!” Ichigo is promptly cut off and injured by the rest of the members of Ganju’s group stampeding after Ganju. When he stands up, Uryu, Sado and I approach him.

“Ayame... Shun’o… Sōten Kesshun, I reject,” I hold my hands out towards Ichigo. I drop them once I finish, watching the dust finally fall to the ground when they’re gone.

“They’re gone.” Sado states the obvious. We’re silent for a good moment, staring in the direction they had left. That was a lot more hectic than I thought it’d be—and I didn’t even really  _ do _ anything.

“Well, if you ask me…” Uryu begins, placing a hand on Ichigo’s shoulder. “This was a disaster.”

“Good thing nobody asked you, huh?” Uryu looks at me with disdain. I mean, I was right; nobody was asking for anybody’s opinion. I then look to Ichigo, “You okay, Kurosaki? You look… twitchy.”

“I’m  _ not _ okay! But I will be once I finally beat that bastard and find out just who the hell he thinks he is!” Ichigo screams at the sky.

“For now, let’s just go back inside and get some rest.” Uryu suggests, leading the way back to the elder’s home, “It doesn’t look like he’s coming back tonight.” Ichigo grumbles, but nonetheless follows Uryu into the home.

“Wait, who is going to—Oh, Sado, you think of everything.” I turn, seeing Sado yank Zangetsu out of the ground and walk towards the house. “That’s enough excitement for one day, I think. We’ll probably sleep good tonight.”

“Let’s hope so.” Sado says, “It might be the last good night of sleep we get for a while.”

He didn’t know how right he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay story time!
> 
> SO, just a tidbit about my writing process, I usually write the chapter in nearly one go from my notes and I went back to see if there was anything I could add or whatever, so I watched the episode that corresponds. This is like episode... 20? To... episode 22?? Or like season 2 episodes 1-3 maybe (what they're called on netflix where i initially watched it bc the english dub kills me it's too funny) I can't remember exactly and don't quote me but I watched it and I kid y'all not Ichigo called Gin an "assclown" in the English dub. I think he just called him fox face in the Jap but I'm like Ichigo wtf are ya doin. 
> 
> Hoshiko done rubbed off on him before she was even a sparkle of an idea lmao


	19. Soul Society: The Sneak Entry Arc: Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let’s meet Kūkaku Shiba & break the law even more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by the word "orb" which I am now tired of seeing. serious i hate that word now. 15 pages and i've written that banned word over 60 times barring when i used it right here.

The next day, after sleeping, I was feeling much, much better. Probably because I’d used up so much of my reiatsu healing Jidanbō and then we dealt with Ganju at night. I wasn’t at all looking forward to dealing with Ganju again, he had to be my least favorite character of this arc, honestly. Before I had arrived here and remembered who he was and what he was going to do, I didn’t really think of him—I honestly didn’t feel one way or another about Ganju. But now that I was here…

Ganju was an asshole and needed to choke on his own spit.

Who the hell did he think he was? Oh, next time I see him, he’s getting one in the face again. But… dealing with him was a necessary evil, so I just had to let it happen. At least he wasn’t going to be stuck with me for the majority of the time we’re here.

That also didn’t mean I couldn’t fuck him up next time we saw him.

When we wake up, the Elder has already had breakfast prepared for us—it’s a simple meal of rice and fish, like last night, but I wasn’t going to complain, food was still food, even if it _did_ need some seasoning. Oh how I missed Tessai-san’s cooking. After breakfast, Yoruichi gives us an hour to ourselves to get ready and I leave the home, intent on going back to the site where we left Jidanbō. Even though I know I healed him completely yesterday, I still wanted to check and make sure he was alright. I guess you could call me a doctor following up with a patient of sorts.

When I got to where Jidanbō was, he was still sleeping and looked as if he’d never been slashed in the arm and it was about to fall off, nor did it look slightly smaller from my heal job.  It looked perfectly fine. I guess give it some time and the arm would return to normal on its own. Well that’s lucky. I glance up at Jidanbō one more time before I’m satisfied and begin making my way back towards the Elder’s house. Outside, Uryu and Sado stand, with Sado squatting on the ground, using a stick to draw.

“Hey, good morning!” I greet with a wave, stopping in front of Sado, “What’re you guys doing?”

“Trying to figure out what this Kūkaku person could look like.” Uryu answers, stroking his chin, “I think they’re some sort of elder—only better than _that_ guy in there.” It was safe to say that Uryu had some kind of grudge against the Elder and I wasn’t really sure why—the guy was old and more than likely senile, leave him alone.

“I think…” Sado begins, “That this Kūkaku is a tarot card reader.” They were both wrong—Kūkaku was a young woman, I knew she was a Fireworks Expert and was pretty damn good with Kidō, and most importantly, she definitely wasn’t a _man_. “What about you, Hoshiko?”

“Hmmmm I bet that Kūkaku is a bad ass cat woman.” I strike a pose, “And she’s gonna break down a wall to get us in the Seireitei! ”

“Pssh,” Uryu scoffs, pushing up his glasses, “Considering what we’ve seen of Yoruichi-san’s friend choices, I think this Kūkaku might just end up being a weirdo like that Urahara-san. Aside from this, Yoruichi-san said the walls were impenetrable.” I frown, flicking Uryu’s forehead.

“C’mon, only _I_ can call him that. You don’t work for him—I do, so only I can say mean things.” I grumble, “I’m gonna go see what’s taking Kurosaki so long. We should’ve left by now.” I leave Uryu and Sado outside, the latter trying to show Uryu what else he’s thought up for Kūkaku’s appearance.

“…You’re actually a good artist, Sado-san, but why a tarot card reader and... isn’t that a cash register?” Uryu sounds impressed. I guess I’ll have to check when we go to leave if he hasn’t erased it by then.

“Hoi, hoi, Kurosaki.” I raise my arm in greeting, “Get your ass in gear, we’re ready to go.” Ichigo has his back towards me as he sits down in front of the hearth. “…Kurosaki?”

“I’m not going.” Ichigo says like I knew he was going to. I sigh, kicking off my shoes and stepping up into the house. This is probably the most childish I’ve ever seen him.

“Why not?” I ask like I’m supposed to.

“I’m not going anywhere… until that bastard comes back and fights me!” Ichigo clenches his fist. “He’s an asshole and I’m gonna tear him a new one!”

“Hard to do if he’s already an asshole.” I comment, pressing my foot into Ichigo’s back, making him bend further down until he’s slapping the wooden floor to get me to relent. I ease up and nudge him a little. “Kurosaki, you’re a dumbass. That manboy can wait until after we’ve rescued Rukia.”

“You’re right but… I don’t want him to think I’m a coward!” Ichigo stands up, turning to face me. “I just wanna kick his ass a _little_ bit! You understand right, Inoue? You know that asshole deserves it!” It’s then that Uryu makes an appearance at the door. “Is that too much to ask?”

“What’s going on?” Uryu steps into the house, “Kurosaki, are you even ready?”

“He said he’s not going.” I turn to Uryu, “He wants to beat that fat guy from last night.” From here, I can see Uryu twitch and before I have a chance to move, Uryu has quickly come over and started dragging Ichigo.

“Let. Me. _Go_!” Ichigo yells, gripping the wooden floor. “I said I wasn’t leaving until I kicked his ass and I make good on my promises!”

“We’re _going_ ! I didn’t allow myself to be dragged here just for us to reach a standstill because of _your_ childish feud with an illiterate local!” Uryu grunts with effort. “You _could_ help, you know!” He looks pointedly at me. My eyes widen in surprise and I quickly get a move on.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” I step down off of the platform and grip Uryu’s waist, though our efforts go to waste when Yoruichi appears and slices Ichigo’s nose with her claws. Ichigo immediately lets go with a loud and horrified scream and Uryu and I fall back. I land rather hard on my butt while Uryu slams into me, knocking me completely flat on the floor and the air from my lungs.

“Get a move on! I didn’t come here for you to start wanting to play _WrestleMania_ with the first weird local you see! We’re on a mission, Ichigo! And you need to do better about staying on task.” Yoruichi scolds Ichigo, who is still screaming in pain. “And don’t heal him yet, Hoshiko. I want to see him _squirm_.” Yoruichi turns away from Ichigo who is now rolling around on the floor and leaves the house.

“M-My apologies, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu quickly gets up, turning and offering me a hand.

“It’s no problem.” We both look at Ichigo who is still hollering in pain. “Maybe you should do something about that.”

“...he deserves it.” Uryu replies, but nonetheless pulls out his first aid kit. “Kurosaki, I’m all out of my regular painless cleaner, so we’ll have to use rubbing alcohol.”

“Stop! Don’t touch me!” Ichigo yells. “It’ll heal on it’s own! I’m _fine_! I don’t want the rubbing alcohol!”

“I’m guessing someone went a little overboard with the rubbing alcohol on him for a reaction like this.” I comment. Uryu nods, taking a couple of steps towards Ichigo.

I watch Uryu inch closer to Ichigo, who takes a step back for every step he takes and just as Uryu pounces, I turn, leaving the home, Ichigo’s screams following me out the door.

Wow, he was really such a baby. I guess this was the side of Ichigo they didn’t show.

* * *

Without much fanfare, the Elder is the only one awake to see us off and we leave the village. As we walk, I decided to take pity on Ichigo and heal up his face. Taking off Uryu’s bandaids, I raise my hands to Ichigo’s face, reciting the incantation. My eyes are trained on the cuts across Ichigo’s cheeks and nose, watching as they close up as if they were never there—with no scar marks or anything.

“W-What?” Ichigo tilts his head, “Why are you staring like that? Did it leave a bad scar or something?”

“My healing power really is amazing, I have to admit.” I say breathlessly, touching across Ichigo’s face. “All the cuts, completely gone.” This power was nothing like what Tessai and Urahara could do—I had scars from training, even though they were healed—so this was out of the ballpark.

“Hey, Helen. If you’re done bewitching young men,” Yoruichi calls, “We’d like to get a move on.” Ichigo pulls my hands away from his face and pulls me along. Well okay, sorry I decided to heal you, Ichigo.

“Sorry, Yoruichi!” I call, “I was admiring how good of a job I did! Though, it can’t cure the fact that Kurosaki’s face is a permanent scowl.”

“That’s a part of his charm.” Sado says as we catch up to them, “The stern face of a handsome man ready to protect. It gives me chills.” His facial expression and his demeanor don’t change, aside from a slight shiver, Sado is perfectly the same and it’s hilarious. I laugh loudly, and I can even hear Yoruichi chuckle.

“S-Sado...” Ichigo frowns, “Don’t say things like that...”

“Aw... is Kurosaki embarrassed?” I tease him, poking him on the arm. “I guess you’d have to be Kurosaki’s best friend to see that, because I don’t. All I see is an angry glare, directed at _me_ , the one who healed him. And I feel like it shouldn’t be.”

“That just means he likes you.” Sado says, “Otherwise you’d get the neutral face of moderate displeasure. It looks like this.” Sado’s facial expression doesn't change.

“But… you look like that all th—”

“You hear that, Uryu!” I run ahead, slamming my body into Uryu’s back and making him cut himself off. He stumbles, raising his arms as I grip him around the middle, “Kurosaki _likes_ us! A dream come true!”

“Yes, I’m so happy.” Uryu drawls with a roll of his eyes, “N-Now let go of me...”

“Guys, if we’re gonna be a team, you have to know something about me.” I let go of Uryu, “I, personally, am a very touchy-feely person. So you’re gonna have to learn to love it or at least tolerate it. Now, give me the map!” Uyru hands me the map and I open it, staring down at it. I don’t know how to read a map, but I guess this is as good a time as any to start. “Okay, men and cat! Forward on the starboard bow!”

“Who died and made you leader?” Ichigo frowns, snatching the map from me. I smack him on the arm, taking it back. “Inoue! Stop hitting me!”

“Does that mean _you_ want to be the leader?” Uryu asks, “Because I’d rather Hoshiko-san if someone had to be our leader. Especially if we can’t chose ourselves.”

“Ichigo did lead us here... but Hoshiko gathered us together in order to go. I can’t decide...” Sado shakes his head. “Both have good and bad points.”

“I don’t really care who our leader is,” I admit, shrugging. “Let’s get call ourselves a team and leave it at that. Hell, maybe Yoruichi is our leader.”

“Yes, and as your leader, I want you to just walk quietly. All the talking is getting on my nerves. Ichigo, let Hoshiko hold the map. She’ll be quiet that way” Ichigo grumbles, crossing his arms.

“So, like I said, forward, men!” I point into the distance. “We’ll be there in no time!”

* * *

We walk far, far out into the countryside when the walking gets to be too much for me—not that I can’t do it, I just really don’t want to anymore. “Sado…” I whine, poking him on the arm, “Can you carry me? I’m tired of walking...”

“Walk like the rest of us.” Ichigo glares at me, “Chad’s not carrying—Chad, why are you carrying her?” I grin with glee, sending a smug look Ichigo’s way when Sado bends down to allow me to get on his back. I all but jump on him and he stands, adjusting to my weight before continuing.

“…I owe her at least this much.” He answers. “It’s not like she’s heavy either.” He was probably only saying that to be nice—I won’t lie, I wasn’t exactly the Inoue that was once here, I was a little chubbier and it didn’t go away easily, even after all the training I’d done.

“Hmph. Are we even going the right way?” Ichigo then asks, obviously not arguing or wanting to ask what Sado means by owing me. I hold out the map that I’d been carrying to him and he takes it, looking it over.

“We’ve passed a good portion of the landmarks the Elder put on the map, so I’d say so.” I inform the group, “But who knew they’d be so far apart?”

“What I want to know is…” Sado chimes in, “Why Shiba Kūkaku’s house is so far away from any towns. We’ve already passed by two.”

“Judging by the Elder’s reaction when Yoruichi-san asked about Kūkaku, I’m sure that this person is probably shunned by others, so they live away from the towns in order to stay safe.” Uryu strokes his chin. “Maybe like a monster.”

“Maybe Kūkaku just enjoys plants more than people?” I suggest. “I mean, chillin’ in the countryside ain’t _that_ bad.”

“I can agree with that.” Ichigo nods, “Sometimes people are really annoying.”

“You’re lookin’ at me, Kurosaki, and you need to stop before _I_ claw your face up.” I threaten lightly, shifting on Sado’s back. Ichigo quickly looks away and Yoruichi chuckles.

“Well, I don’t know about all that,” Yoruichi decides to enter the conversation, “Kūkaku just likes to move around a lot, I think. But the design of the house stays relatively the same. It’s easy to pick out and when we arrive, you’ll see why.”

The rest of the walk goes by quickly, with idle chatter until we reach the house. “ _Oh_.” Sado simply says—the sound is small, but there’s recognition in his voice. He remembers what Yoruichi had said about the house being easy to find earlier, I’m sure.

Two large, stone arms come straight out of the ground and hold a banner depicting whose house it is in bold kanji. “Wow…” I whistle, “This… This is pretty hard to miss.”

“It’s pretty hard to look at is what it is.” Uryu snidely remarked. “This house… it’s _awful_ . Who would even _live_ here?”

“Shiba Kūkaku, apparently.” Ichigo and I answer simultaneously.

The house wasn’t much to look at, it was rather small and did not honestly look like it would hold all of us comfortably. I mean, I knew it was much, much bigger on the inside, considering most of it was underground, but to someone just seeing it for the first time, it wasn’t at all anything to write home about. A large smoke stalk stood behind the home and as we walk towards it, Ichigo mumbles, “Well, at least there’s nobody around to see us enter this place.”

“For once, I agree with you, Kurosaki.” Uryu pushes up his glasses.

“Both of you, shut up and stop being so disrespectful.” Yoruichi turns her head sharply. “And Hoshiko, you’ve been carried long enough.”

I sigh as Sado slowly releases his hold on my legs and I let them drop, landing on my feet and starting to walk beside Sado.

“How do we get in? Do we just knock?” Sado stares at the door.

I shrug, approaching the door only to be pulled back by Sado just in time to avoid being stepped on by two large, burly men. They looked pretty similar, though they had clear differences that was probably used to help tell them apart—Kūkaku probably got tired of them correcting her and made them wear different uniforms. The one on the left wore a yellow shirt while the one on the right wore a white shirt—but both had angry scowls on their faces.

“Do you _really_ wish to enter this domain?” The one on the left said.

“Because we won’t let ya!” The one on the right finishes. “You see… to enter this place…”

“Is to enter _death_!” The left one finishes, crossing his arms. Ichigo moves to say something, but the two blanch, dropping to their knees and I know why—Yoruichi stands in front of us.

“Y-Yoruichi-sama!” The two of them say, bowing lowly. “W-We’re sorry! We did not see you there!”

“It’s quite alright, Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko.” Yoruichi assures them, “Can you take us to see Kūkaku?”

“Of course!” They both stand up quickly and open the doors to a set of stairs. The yellow-shirted one leads us down the steps while the white-shirted one holds the door open. Eventually, I hear it slam and we’re led down a hallway and towards a long rice-paper door.

“Kūkaku-sama!” The two men bow at the door. “We’ve brought guests!”

“Well, they better be some damn good ones for you lettin’ ‘em in here.” Kūkaku’s voice sounds off from inside the room, “Well, c’mon then! Let ‘em in! I’m over here dyin’ ta meet them!” Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko move apart, sliding open the doors to reveal a woman sitting on a lavish-looking cushion, smoking out of a pipe. “Well, well…” Kūkaku smirks, “If it ain’t Yoruichi.”

“Hey, guys.” I nudge Sado and Uryu. “Could you… um, pick up the phone?”

“I… what?” Uryu turns to me confused, “There’s no—“

“Cause I _called_ it!” I yell, throwing my arms up, “Didn’t I _say_ Kūkaku was a woman! I did, or was that just me?” We all stride into the room and Kūkaku snickers, shaking her head. “Elder tarot card reader with a beard, _my ass_!”

“What a ragtag bunch you’ve got, Yoruichi. Babysitting?” Kūkaku asks, her voice dripping with fake sweetness and tons of humor. She’s clearly amused at us, but Yoruichi doesn’t look amused at all. “Doesn’t suit you at all, honey.”

“Something like it.” Yoruichi answers, walking closer to sit in front of Kūkaku. “Anyway, Kūkaku, I have a favor to ask you.”

“Hold on—!” Kūkaku holds a hand up, stopping Yoruichi. “Lemme ask ya a question.”

“Go ahead.” Yoruichi puts her paw out.

“Is there gonna be trouble?” Kūkaku simply asks.

“Yes, a whole hell of a lot of trouble—depending on whether you can do it or not.”

“Then I’m in!” Kūkaku leans back, throwing her arms up, “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve gotten into trouble, so best believe this is happening.”

I liked Kūkaku. And I liked her even more after meeting her in person, she was definitely someone I was going to aspire to be—plus she had a bad ass prosthetic arm too. I wonder what fights she’d been in to lose her actual arm.

“Good…” Yoruichi breathes out, “Let me explain the situation then…” Yoruichi takes the next five or ten minutes to explain the situation and Kūkaku’s facial expression doesn’t change.

“Pssh, if I was on the fence before, I definitely am doing it now. If that blond dumbass is involved… I have to do it.” Kūkaku cracks her knuckle, smirking. “I owe him at least this much.”

“Hoi, Kūkaku-san, you know Urahara?” I tilt my head. “You something like an old flame of his?” The others look at me, incredulously, “What? I’m curious about it!”

“Haha, you’re a funny girl, I’ll give you that.” Kūkaku leans forward, “But no, we’re merely old friends. I was too good for him, plus I'm not too much a fan of hot dogs, if I do say so myself. You'd be my type, y’know, if you were a little older.”

“Yeah, you’re much too pretty for someone like him. I remember Urahara mentioned a woman who broke his heart and ran away with the pieces—I thought he was being dramatic and it looks like I was right.” Urahara didn’t talk much of his past, so he probably was kidding about most of the things he’d told me. “I’m everybody's type, I'm just that cute.”

“I’m guessing you’re one of Urahara’s students or a new associate of his?” Kūkaku addresses me directly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be speaking so familiarly of him and your humor is much too similar to his for it to be a coincidence.”

“Yeah,” I nod at her, “Urahara’s been teaching me everything I know about… all this.”

“Hmph, makes sense. Good luck with him, you’re gonna need it.” Kūkaku vaguely responds, standing up, “Alright, enough idle chat. Since you’re lookin’ to go to the Seireitei, I’ve decided I’m gonna make things easier and help ya out! But… I’mma need someone t’ go with ya. One of my minions, if you will. Just a precautionary measure, I’m sure you understand.”

She moves towards a screen door, knocking on it before sliding it open. “This… is my little brother.”

Ganju sits there, bowing at us before he speaks. “Hello, pleased to make your acquaintance I’m…” He looks up, seeing us. His eyes narrow upon seeing Ichigo and I grunt. “Y-You…!” Oh, round two was _on_. Ichigo begins running towards him and Ganju does the same. I move to go running after him, but Sado once again snatches me up into his arms per Uryu’s request.

“S-Sado!” I yelp, squirming around, “C’mon! This is as much my fight as it is Kurosaki’s!”

The two slam into each other and begin wrestling around on the ground with everyone watching.

“I know,” Sado says, staring down at me through his hair. “But now is not the time.”

“Okay, but he deserves a fist full of Hoshiko!” I argue. Sado shakes his head, holding me tighter.

“How do you know him?” Kūkaku turns to look at us before her gaze returns to her brother and Ichigo. “Damn, that’s a mean uppercut. Kid has quite the arm...”

“Met his idiot ass last night when he came in insulting us.” Of course, I was going to leave out the part where we insulted him back, “He and Kurosaki got into a fight and… well, here we are.”

“This _would_ explain why he’s riding a boar.” Uryu points out, “Since he lives out in the country.” Sado and I nod, I hadn’t thought of that. The two’s fighting continues, even with Yoruichi’s order for Ichigo to stop didn’t work.

“Should we… stop them?” Uryu asked. I shook my head, they were really getting into it and I wanted to see the outcome. Plus, if I couldn't fight, then Ichigo had to do it for me, “Okay, someone _aside_ from Hoshiko-san answer the question.”

“Yikes, just call me out, why don’t you?” I frown at him. The group of us wince as they break down doors and slam each other into walls until finally, they bump into Kūkaku and she drops her pipe, falling onto her hands and knees. Oh shit.

Kūkaku grunts, immediately standing up. Her hand glows with a rage of reiatsu before she walks over to the two and slams it into them, managing to get right between them.

“That was… my favorite pipe!” She screams as the two go flying apart, effectively ending their fight. “Now look what you made me do! I destroyed this room because of y’all!”

“S-Sorry…” Ichigo groans in pain on floor. Ganju rolls over, clutching his stomach. Kūkaku grunts, spitting onto the floor.

“If you’re done making a mess, follow me.” Kūkaku doesn’t waste any time and leaves her room through a set of broken doors. Uryu, Sado, Yoruichi and I follow, with Ichigo and Ganju groaning as they lead up the rear.

Kūkaku takes us through an underground path and leads us through another door, and inside, is the base of the large chimney that we had seen outside. Once we all are inside, I take a moment to survey the chimney—it’s a cannon, I know, but it looks so different in real life. It’s still rather dark looking, but somehow looks folded in on itself. On the platform is a turnstile-like mechanism, obviously used for raising the cannon up into the air.

“I never formally introduced myself, did I?” Kūkaku stands in front of us, gesturing to herself, “My name is Shiba Kūkaku… and I’m the West Rukongai’s Number One Fireworks Expert.”

“Is that self-proclaimed title or a known fact?”

“Hoshiko, now is not the time for that.” Yoruichi reprimands me and I quiet down, stepping in line with Sado and Uryu.

“Now, lemme tell ya how I’mma get you into the Seireitei.” Kūkaku grins, “I’m gonna shoot you all into the sky with my cannon and you’re all going to crash into the Seireitei.” The way she described it sounded awful and the looks on everyone’s faces said that they shared the sentiment. “Okay, Koga, Shiro. Raise it up!”

The two take their places on opposite sides of the turnstile, cranking it up with a power that seemed unimaginable. It was quick, we were suddenly raised up and into the air, with the canon growing larger and large, jutting out into the sky.

“Okay,” Kūkaku claps, “You, orange home wrecker. You have the most, so put your Reiryoku into this.” She hands him the orb, which is actually quite large. Ichigo adjusts to the weight of it quickly and stares at it.

I scoff, crossing my arms. “Yeah, like that’ll happen anytime soon. We’ll actually _be_ dead before Kurosaki can manage that.” Ichigo squawks indignantly at my words and Sado seems to pale, placing a hand on my shoulder. “And I really don’t wanna do that. I don’t think I could wear the same ugly yukata for the rest of my life.”

“I don't have life insurance.” Sado cuts in. “So I can't die. Who is going to pay for the expenses?”

“What is _with_ you and life insurance?” Uryu asks, turning to look at him. I had to kind of agree with Uryu here, I mean this wasn't the first time Sado’s mentioned life insurance. “You’ve mentioned it a couple of times since we got here. Why are you so fixated on death?”

“I’d just like to be prepared. Being around all these dead people has me thinking.” Sado responds with a tone that makes me wonder if he’s being completely serious or not. “The final expense is always the biggest one, you know.”

“Enough about Sado and his sudden questioning of morality, we can worry about it later. Kurosaki, this should be a cakewalk for you. I mean, unless you’re really... like I said, _bad_ at controlling and channeling your reiatsu. Only a dumbass who had two, nearly _three_ weeks to learn to control his reiatsu but spent it fighting a dumbass of equal status would have a problem doing that.” I chime in, looking over at him.

“It’s amazing how quickly you can go from insulting one person to the next.” Ichigo huffs, “First that guy, now me.”

“I don’t like to play favorites. Everyone can have some of the Hoshiko roast. I’m on the grill all day.” I grin, winking at him.

“These kids are pretty cheeky!” Kukaku grins with a laugh. “They’re like little yous from the past.”

“I hate teenagers...” Yoruichi sighs.

“Hoi, c’mon, Kurosaki! You're out here burnin’ daylight! Can you do what she asked?” I poke him a couple of times.

Ichigo swats my hand away and grunts, concentrating solely on the orb in his hands. A minute passes, and then another. I sit down, leaning on Sado while Ichigo curses and mumbles under his breath when his Reiryoku doesn’t pour out of his body like he thought.

“Okay, so she was more than just bark, she was completely right—this seems like a lost cause. Ganju, you do it.” Kūkaku turns to Ganju. He nods, coming to take the orb from Ichigo, who holds it just out of his reach.

“I didn’t even get to try yet!” Ichigo yelps. “I can do it, just give me a minute!”

“We’ve given you like five already! C’mon, stop playing around and give me the orb!” Ganju commanded, reaching for it. “We all know you can't! It was clear when you just held it and started staring!” It was clear this was going to turn into another fight and Kūkaku stepped in, smacking both of the boys on the back of the head.

“Give him the damn orb!” Her voice was low with anger when she spoke and Ichigo quickly gave up the orb. “Ganju, do it.” Ganju poured Reiryoku into the orb and it seemed to expand, creating an outer layer around Ganju, which was light blue in color. Ganju looks to Ichigo, shooting him a smug grin.

Kūkaku smirks, knocking her fist against it. “This! In case you were wondering, is how you’re going to get into the Seireitei!” Despite me already knowing this, the concept was interesting to say the least.

One could only wonder how Kūkaku came up with the plan—she probably had some help from Urahara, or a past invention of his gave her some inspiration. Because this orb was nothing like a firework at all. Kūkaku made explosives for a living and this wasn’t at all an explosive. I could only guess why she decided to make something like this. Maybe it was for easier escapes?

The concept of using the orb didn’t seem like it would be very hard to do. It was probably similar to coating oneself in reiatsu to soften a blow or something. The orb probably acted as a medium, helping channel and shape the reiatsu instead of letting it billow around uselessly around a person.

Though similar to the way that I had been able to coat myself in somewhat of a membrane of my reiatsu to soften blows, it was almost completely nothing like that. Really, the only similarity was that it took reiryoku and coated something in it. The membrane that I used wasn't hard and did not have a defined shape like this did. Sure, I could bring it close to myself and have it follow the curves of my body (and lemme tell you, I had a lot of those) but it wouldn’t go much further than coating myself.

I’m sure that the orb is what gave the person such properties. It wasn’t like they could harden their reiatsu like this on their own—it was hard to do, or so Urahara had told me. It was much, much easier to just have a softening membrane around you when putting out reiatsu. Even easier was to allow it to billow and put Intent in it

“Now, this orb is an invention of my own creation.” Kūkaku puffs her chest out in pride. “It’s called the ‘ _Reishūkaku’_ and it collects Reiryoku to generate this sphere here. And this sphere, is the vessel you’ll use to enter the Seireitei.”

Kūkaku explains more about the Reishūkaku and its purposes while I tune out. I got the gist of what the orb could do and how to use it. After all, it wasn’t that hard to do—well, maybe for me and Uryu, since we probably had the most training with using Reiryoku and reiatsu to do things.

Sado came a close second to us and Ichigo, sadly, was dead last because he just swung his reiatsu around like it was nothing—all he could do was put pressure on people, and his pressure wasn’t even heavy or hard to deal with, just loud and easy to spot, because he lacked the Killing Intent and negative emotions for it.

Kūkaku leads us back down into her home and into a new room. The room is large and open without much in it, but there are sliding doors on the far side, making me think there's more to it. “This is the training hall.” She informs us, looking over us, “And here, you’ll all get your own Reishūkaku to practice with. In a few hours, I’ll come check on your progress.”

With that, Kūkaku and Yoruichi leave the room. Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko close the doors behind them, leaving the four of us alone in the room. I sit down in the middle of the room, sighing and open my bag, pulling out a candy bar. “Anybody want one?”

“Why do you _always_ seem to have food?” Ichigo sits down with me, taking the offered candy bar.

We hadn’t eaten anything since this morning and it’s been hours—it was almost night time and now that we had a moment to ourselves, I wanted to eat something. My reiryoku wasn’t at all depleted, but I was getting hungry. I pull out another one, offering it to Sado and Uryu. Sado takes it, but Uryu declines. I guess he wasn’t a chocolate guy. I pull out a third one and open it up, biting into it.

It was good to have food, especially since I vaguely recall us not having anything to eat once we got into the Seireitei. A girl needed to eat!

“Better question is, why don’t _you_ always have food? You gotta eat, Kurosaki, food is the bread of life. And don’t make comments if you want some. I can take that candy bar back, you know.” I chide him. Ichigo shifts slightly, shielding the candy bar from me. I shake my head, huffing and then look to Uryu and Sado who sit down, holding the orbs, “So, how do you guys feel about this?”

“From Kūkaku-san’s explanations, it seems more than doable.” Uryu pushes up his glasses, inspecting the orb. “I don’t think it should be much of a problem trying to form our own orbs, the question is… is Kūkaku-san going to shoot us in individually? She never answered that question.”

I guess I hadn’t been paying attention when Uryu had asked that, “Probably not.” I answer, “Kūkaku’s cannon runs on Reiryoku too, right?” Uryu nods, “So, if it takes a considerable amount of Reiryoku to shoot an orb into the air, then she would probably only do it once—that means us and Ganju are going to be travelling in the same orb.” Ichigo chomps angrily on the candy bar, probably upset that we had to go with Ganju. I couldn’t blame him.

“So then why would she give us so many orbs to practice with? Shouldn’t we practice as a group?” Sado questions, looking down at the orb in his hands.

“It’s probably to get us used to using the orb.” Uryu suggests, more than likely unsure why Kūkaku asked us to practice separately.

I couldn’t tell him why either—I don’t think she ever explained it, but then again, I hadn’t been paying attention. Uryu was probably right, it made sense that we would just practice by ourselves a bit before coming together as a group, since if we were by ourselves, we didn’t have to worry about mixing our reiatsu and meshing it together at first.

“Well,” I stand up, discarding my candy bar wrapper in my bag. “We won’t get any better trying to do this by sitting around talking. Let’s practice separately and then if we have enough time, we can try practicing together.”

The others agreed and we spread out so we didn’t accidentally hit each other while trying to form our orbs. I tied my hair up into a ponytail and then picked up the orb, noting that it was rather heavy, but the weight wasn’t uncomfortable in my hands. The orb was smooth and felt oddly like it was pulling in my Reiryoku already and all I did was pick it up. It wasn’t an uncomfortable stealing, like when Uryu took the built up Reiryoku out of my hands.

Because it was so slight and calm in the way it took my Reiryoku, it wasn’t hard to let the orb have it and slowly, the barrier orb started forming with me consciously giving it a little more. The barrier formed outward, originating from the orb itself and felt strangely like passing through jello until it fully formed around me. Just like the shield problem, it was still a little too small to work with.

I looked down at the bracelet on my wrist. After I’d broken the one facing off against the hollow when I first got my powers, Urahara had made me a new one, but I wasn’t sure if it limited my Reiryoku and stored it, or if it had another purpose completely. It still felt the same as before—like a warm, comforting weight on my wrist, but it was still kind of… _odd_. I wasn’t going to take it off, since Urahara had gone through all the trouble to make it for me. I turned my attention back to the orb.

Maybe I could just focus more on… trying to push out more Reiryoku? I didn’t need to actually outwardly expel it, so that was a plus since just allowing the Reiryoku to build up into my hands drained it into the orb without much interaction from me, but it was a slow process only because I was still getting used to it. Having a medium like this was good and bad. Good, because it was easy to use, bad because it still took some time getting used to, especially when you’re already used to just pushing reiryoku into your power or through your body. I grunted, pouring a little more of my Reiryoku into the orb and slowly, the barrier around me expanded slightly.

Now the problem, as it was when I first started trying to use my powers was how long I could hold it. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have to worry too much. It wasn’t like it was only going to be me. Ichigo, Uryu, Sado, Yoruichi and even Ganju would be there, and with that many people, it wouldn’t be difficult to hold it when it came down to it.

I concentrated on looking at the orb, watching what appeared to be my Reiryoku—seeing as it was pink in color—swirl around inside. I wonder what happens to the Reiryoku once I’m done putting it inside the orb or I drop it. Does it just exit? I highly doubt it would return to me, since the contact between the orb and I would no longer be established.

As the basic rules of energy went, it cannot be created or destroyed, only changed, so it wouldn't cease to exist. Maybe it just stayed in the orb? Or flowed out and returned to the natural reiatsu in the world.

I turn my gaze towards Sado and Uryu, the two are having some trouble forming a spherical orb, but at least their orbs are somewhat visible. Sado’s is glassy and somewhat transparent—much more than mine, which mirrors the light blue-ish color of the orb. If someone were to tap or even blow on Sado’s orb, it was sure to break easily under the pressure. That was an obvious sign of him not putting enough Reiryoku into the orb.

I then look to Uryu, who has put too much into his orb. It’s hard to see him, since his barrier is much darker, a thick blue color that shields most of him from view. It seemed like the two were polar opposites, wherein I was close to perfecting it. If Sado and Uryu had to make an orb together, I think it’d be something similar in color to mine, the two could make up for the other’s lack.

Finally, I watch Ichigo’s progress and… unsurprisingly, he has none. He’s probably just been… staring at the orb for the past however long we’ve been practicing on our own. I watch him for what seems like a few more minutes, waiting to see if he does anything else. He looks troubled but concentrated on staring at it. I sigh, should I help him out? Well, I wouldn’t even know what to say.

“Screw it.” I drop my barrier and approach Ichigo.

“Oh, Inoue…” He greets, gaze returning to the orb. “How is your practice going?”

“Better than yours, I’ll say.” I reply. “What’s the problem? You’ve got a lot of spiritual power—you should easily be able to pour Reiryoku into the orb.”

“Ah…” Ichigo tucks the orb under his arm like a soccer ball and scratches the back of his head. “That’s what they’ve all told me—but the thing is… I don’t really know _how_ to… like… get it out? If that makes sense.”

“I get your meaning, yeah.” I put my own orb down. “You… you’re the type to draw it out unconsciously—and I mean, everyone kind of does that too. Look at how it just comes out when I need to calm someone down.”

“But the difference is, you _can_ make a barrier orb.” Ichigo remarked, “Out of all of us, your orb looked the most like Ganju’s… how did you do it?”

“I just… let the orb have it.” I shrug. I really didn’t know how to explain pushing out Reiryoku.

Due to Urahara’s training and my own training with Yoruichi, I was just able to push it out without thinking—of course, it was much harder to push it into body parts because I had to think about the right amount so I didn’t hurt myself or take too much from other places, leaving me vulnerable. Just letting it go and putting it to a purpose were two different things and I was only on the way to being able to know exactly how much to put into my arms/hands for a strength enhancement or my legs for a speed boost. It was much, much easier with a medium like the orb to use.

“Okay, like.” I began, trying to think of how to explain it to Ichigo. “It’s like… when you touch the orb… how do you feel?”

“I… I dunno.” Ichigo confesses. “I mean, I’ve been holding it, I just… I dunno. This is like... advanced physics or something.” I chuckle at his words.

“Well, when I hold the orb.” I take it from him, stepping just out of his reach, “I feel like it’s already taking Reiryoku from me. So, I just push a little more out…” The sphere slowly forms around me, “And then it’s there.”

“That’s not very helpful.” Ichigo crosses his arms, frowning. "Advanced physics, remember?"

“I know, I know…” I huff, dropping the barrier and approaching Ichigo. “Just hold the orb and see if you can feel what I feel.” Ichigo takes the orb from me and holds it, “Don’t try to concentrate so much on the orb. Listen to your body and see how you feel.” His face softens slightly and he looks up at me, eyes wide.

“It... _does_ feel like the orb is taking something from me.” He looks back to the orb, “But I still don’t know how to push it out.” I hum, putting my hands on top of Ichigo’s, trying to see if I can feel what he’s putting into the orb.

"In my mind," I begin, looking down at the orb, "...I visualize a small trickle of power heading into the orb—similar to what the orb was initially taking from me. I can also feel you trying to add more, but unsure of how to do so." I look up at him, "Can you feel my power, Kurosaki?" He’s unconsciously blocking his own Reiryoku, probably because he doesn’t want to break something by doing too much.

"Y-Yeah." Ichigo responds, staring directly back at me. "I can feel everything you're doing. I..."

“It’s okay…” I murmur, slowly pouring more of my Reiryoku into the orb, “Kurosaki, mimic how I’m doing it. Slowly, you don't want to rush and crack the barrier.” The barrier starts to form from the orb at an agonizingly slow rate, with my Reiryoku being the bigger presence and Ichigo’s small trickle, which starts to gain some momentum. A little faster, the barrier starts to form until it’s large enough to support both of us. We float slightly inside the barrier, as Ichigo's reiatsu fills any spaces that aren't occupied with our bodies.

“I… It’s happening!” Ichigo grins. I smile back at him, but the moment he loses concentration, the orb cracks, shattering around us.

“You can’t lose concentration. You have to focus until it becomes second nature to you.” I chide him, pulling on his ear lightly, “But that was a good one—let's try it a couple more times and then you should try it on your own.”

Ichigo nods, gripping the orb a little tighter, something like renewed determination on his face. We run through practicing together a couple more times and Ichigo seems to get better and better at it. “Now try it by yourself.” I tell him, stepping away.

Ichigo nods once more, “Okay…” He nearly whispers. Slowly, I feel a slight rise in his reiatsu and the orb is halfway formed.

“Just a little more, Kurosaki!” I try not to say too loudly. Ichigo nods slightly, the barrier raising just a little more.

The doors slam open and Ichigo’s orb cracks and shatters upon hearing the sound, “Okay, _maggots_!” Kūkaku calls out, demanding our attention, “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

At least this test wouldn’t be hard to pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "hey kurosaki"
> 
> "yah"
> 
> "...how do you keep zangetsu strapped to your back?"
> 
> "oh, there's like... little magnetic clasps where the rope is, and it just sticks to him."
> 
> "what"
> 
> "yeah, see?"
> 
> "what the fuck, i never would've guessed."
> 
> "what did you think?"
> 
> "determination and kurosaki willpower."
> 
> "you're stupid."
> 
> "AT LEAST I CAN FORM A BARRIER ORB ON MY OWN"
> 
> "wow"
> 
> \--
> 
> make sure to stop by the tumblr for questions & comments and maybe all your shipping needs!! hoshikonobleach.tumblr.com !!


	20. Soul Society: The Sneak Entry Arc: Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternately called "The Ichigo and Hoshiko Do Some Bonding Chapter"

 

Kūkaku stands there, expectant and the four of us trade off glances, silently deciding who will go first. I sigh, stepping up. As usual, it seems like I’m the only one woman enough to step up. “Forget what I said about Kurosaki possibly being the leader, looks like I'm the leader.” I sigh out.

“Do your best, Hoshiko. I follow your example.” Sado gives me a thumbs up. I roll my eyes and turn to look at Kūkaku.

“…Kūkaku-san, this orb is really heavy, you know?” I drawled lazily, holding it in my arms.

“It’s supposed to be! All a part of the design!” She boasts cheerily, smirking. “Now, go ahead, show us what you’re workin’ with!” I grip the orb a little tighter and the sphere forms easily around me. Kūkaku looks impressed, “You’re pretty good! How’d you get it down so quick? I was as vague as possible to see what y’all would do.” She walks around my orb, knocking her fist against it, looking satisfied by the sound it makes.

“I’m Urahara’s best student, you know.” I declared, not at all trying to keep the smugness out of my grin, “There’s not much I can’t figure out when it comes to this stuff. Also, I’m just  _ way _ better than everybody else here at pretty much everything.” Kūkaku laughs, waving me off. I let the barrier fade out and go to stand back with the others while Sado steps up.

He forms his barrier and it looks a little wonky, being kind of wavy around the edges, but it’s much closer to the color of my orb, so at least he had that going for him. Kūkaku knocks her fist against it and it bends under her hand, making a warbly sound like shaking a heavy packet of staples papers. At least it wasn’t glassy like it was before, but he still needed to work it out a bit more. 

Uryu goes next, his orb is also better, and similar in color. Kūkaku knocks her fist against it. The sound it makes is rather hard, similar to mine, but odd in a way, almost like banging your fist against concrete, whereas mine was similar to steel. 

“Hmm… both of you have fine enough orbs. I’m sure the rest can make up for it.” She informs us, “Next up is you.” She looks pointedly at Ichigo. “I’m curious t’ see if’n y’ gonna be able to redeem yourself.”

Ichigo walks up, looking kind of nervous and holds the orb out in front of him. For the next moment, we wait. And… nothing happens. Absolutely nothing happens except Ichigo grunting with effort for the next three minutes and it seems like Kūkaku has had enough. She stops him, slapping the orb and glaring at him. “ _ Hah _ ?” Kūkaku growled loudly, “Where’s the barrier, kid?”

“I’m  _ trying _ !” Ichigo huffed angrily, narrowing his eyes at the orb. “I did it with Inoue and it worked and I almost formed it by myself, but now…” He tries to force his Reiryoku into the orb, but for some reason, it doesn’t work. 

What was wrong with Kurosaki? There was some odd disconnection between his mind and body—why couldn’t he will his Reiryoku to listen to him? Maybe because he was too instinct based when he did everything else as a Shinigami. It was hard to tell with him.

“Ichigo,” Yoruichi swishes her tail from side to side. “You have nearly  _ lieutenant’s _ level spiritual powers, we can see that you’re very passionate, but if you don’t know what to do with it… you’re going to end up a terrible partner in bed.”

“Wh- _ What _ ?” Ichigo nearly shrieks out, reiatsu spiking enough to start the barrier then it flares out, dissipating in a moment. A heavy blush spreads across his skin at an alarming rate, “Wh-Wh-What does  _ that _ have to do with anything?”

The look on Kūkaku and Yoruichi’s faces are blank as they stare at Ichigo. “…Everything.” The two say simultaneously. 

I do my best to hold in my laughter, but it’s clear that my body’s shaking. Sado snorts lightly, shaking as well while Uryu looks just as lost as Ichigo, though not as thoroughly embarrassed. “Still giving you chills, Sado?”

“Oh yes.” Sado nods, his shoulders shaking just a little more. “I’m shivering in anticipation.”

Kūkaku sighs, crossing her arms. “Well, at any rate… you’re gonna stay here until you get it to work.” She declares, staring dead at him. “And Ganju! Get in here!” Ganju enters only seconds after she calls him, “You’re gonna watch him.”

“ _ What _ ?” Both of them shout, disbelief clear in their voices. Kūkaku raises her arm and the two quiet, looking away from her.

“The rest of you, follow me, it’s time to eat.” Kūkaku motioned us to follow after her. Uryu and Sado do so, but I stay back a moment, looking at Ichigo. He looks so dejected, staring at the orb and I feel bad—he  _ was _ able to use the orb, he did it with me, but why couldn’t he do it on his own? What was the disconnect between him and his Reiryoku? 

“Hoshiko, c’mon, don’t you wanna eat?” Sado calls at the door. I run to catch up to him.

“Yeah, I’m hungry. Burning all that energy has me nearly dead!” I throw a hand over my forehead dramatically, following Sado out of the room. 

“Hey, shut up! How I a-am in b-b… that doesn’t matter! Shut up, you ugly twins!” Ichigo shouts from inside the training hall. 

“Hmph, girl. I’ve got a question for you.” Ganju says from behind me. I turn slightly, I thought he’d have stayed inside the training hall with Ichigo. “I still don’t understand you all.” He crosses his arms, “Risking your lives to save some stupid Shinigami? Shinigami are worse than trash… I don’t understand you at all.”

“Okay, let’s get one thing straight.” I turn fully, walking straight up to Ganju. “I don’t  _ care _ about your little grudge against the Shinigami, I don’t know or particularly  _ care _ about what they’ve done to you or what you have against them. You can hate Shinigami all you want, I really give zero types of fucks. But you’re  _ not _ going to go around calling  _ my _ friend trash.”

Ganju looks surprised, stepping back away from me, but I don’t let him get away. I don’t have the patience to deal with him anymore, and I won’t have him talking shit about Rukia when she did nothing wrong, even if he won’t believe it. “You don't know anything of the situation, so how can you talk so high and mighty about things you don't even know or like you yourself said, understand? That's just something someone who is stupid would do. Not bothering to learn all the facts before talking and forming an opinion. We’re here to rescue a friend who is dear to us—a friend who would no doubt do this very same thing for us— not debate ideals with you about how you feel about one group of people or why you can’t understand what we’re doing. So, I suggest if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all, got it?”

“G… Got it…” Ganju gulps, stepping back once more. Satisfied with his answer, I turn, following the slight trail of reiatsu that leads me to their dining hall. I take a moment to calm myself before I enter. I can’t go in there all heated and have them asking me what happened.

The dining hall is large—much like every other room in this house—and there are small tables set up with meals on top of them. Sado and Uryu sit off to one side while Kūkaku takes the place of the ‘head’ of the table and Yoruichi sits next to her. 

“What took you?” Uryu asks as I sit in between the two. This dinner is much more extravagant, with various side dishes, as opposed to what the elder had fed us last night. My mouth watered as I picked up my chopsticks, quickly saying the pray before digging into the food. Sorry, Ichigo, I didn’t have the patience like Inoue to wait to eat with you.

“Ganju was talkin’ shit.” I coughed out—I shouldn’t have started talking with a mouth full of rice and chicken. “Hadda put ‘em in his place.”

Uryu hums at my words, nodding. “I’m guessing he insulted Shinigami again?”

“Pretty much.” I gulped down the rest of my food, breathing out noisily, “He can talk shit about all the Shinigami he wants to, but he’s not going to talk about  _ my _ friends.”

For the majority of it, dinner goes smoothly since we’re all dying of hunger—we only had breakfast and that was almost before the sun even came up. And then Ichigo, Sado and I had a candy bar a couple of hours ago, and that was only good for a little energy—nobody speaks much. Uryu is trying politely to eat, but Sado, like me, is close to shoveling all of the food he can in his mouth, so obviously there wouldn’t be much conversation I hadn’t anything really to talk about anyway, since the only things on my mind were rescuing Rukia, how we were going to do that and trying to compensate for Ichigo once we were in the cannonball.

Ichigo’s overactive reiatsu would result in the cannonball breaking apart as soon as it hits the membrane of the Seireitei’s overhead barrier. In order for it to stay stable, we’d have to lower our own Reiryoku in order to let Ichigo take most of the—I look up as an intense wave of spiritual pressure washes over the room. Oh, I forgot that happens. Before Uryu, Sado and I can get up, Kūkaku is already at the door, running down the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Uryu shouts when we’ve left the dining hall and started running down the hallway.

“Probably Kurosaki!” I shout back, skidding to a halt in front of the door. The door to the training hall is broken when we arrive and Kūkaku stands only a couple feet away from it, shielding herself from the bright light that emits from Ichigo’s barrier orb. Shit, I really  _ did _ forget that this was going to happen. Ichigo had too much Reiryoku and Ganju’s trick helped him draw it out, which resulted in this large and unstable ball.

“What happened?” Kūkaku shouts over the loud pressure of Ichigo’s barrier orb. Ganju sits not too far away from her, shaken.

“I… I gave him a hint... a little trick I use!” Ganju nearly shrieks, “I didn’t think he would… do  _ this _ !”

“Boy!” Kūkaku tries to shout to Ichigo. He doesn’t even look up, staring deeply into the orb while his barrier expands, though it’s unstable. Kūkaku moves towards it, only to be smacked back into the door. Sado manages to break her fall before she hits the door and Kūkaku sits up, her hand beginning to glow.

“Hold on!” I shout, “ _ Santen Kesshun _ !” I call out, bringing my hands in front of me. “Okay, work with me, guys!” I run forward, the shield staying in front of me as I pick up momentum. I’m easily able to bypass most of the erratic reiatsu due to the nature of my shield, which ‘reject’ negative events and all of this more than classifies as a negative event.

“ _ Ichigo _ !” I shout and he looks up, his concentration broken for a moment. He pauses and that’s when his barrier is the weakest. I then slam the shield through Ichigo’s barrier orb, shattering it and sending him, myself and the Reishūkaku flying in separate directions. Ichigo slams into the wall while the Reishūkaku makes a dent in the floor and I fly back into the paper screen door.

And just like that, everything is quiet.

I grunt, trying to right myself but it’s hard, seeing as I’m lodged in a paper screen door. I hear Kūkaku cursing and her loud footsteps sound farther away. I yelp as Sado pulls me up and out of the door, looking me over. “I’m fine.” I reassure him, “But it don’t look like Kurosaki will be.”

Kūkaku grabs Ichigo by the collar and lifts him up high, glaring. “Dumbass!” She curses loudly, “What the hell were you thinking? You fuckin’ main branch kids...”

“I was…” Ichigo stammers out, “I was only… doing what he said to do…” 

Kūkaku clicks her teeth, dropping Ichigo and slamming into him, kicking the boy roughly before turning away from him. I feel bad for Ichigo—he was only doing his best, but he just had too much going on. I know that he’s probably going to need me to heal him tomorrow from all the abuse he’d been receiving from Kūkaku.

“That was a horrible idea. Neither of you are getting dinner!” She surveys the room, “At least this place isn’t damaged too badly.” Kūkaku runs a hand over her head, pulling on her bandages slightly before her hand drops and she sighs loudly. “And...You’re going to stay here for the night.”

With that said, Kūkaku leaves the room, telling us to follow her. I can tell she’s ready for us to all shut up and go to bed—even if me and the others weren’t involved with Ichigo’s mishap. 

“He looked really upset.” Sado comments quietly. Uryu and I trade glances, nodding. There wasn’t anything we could do for Ichigo at the moment—I didn’t want to incur Kūkaku’s wrath for trying to go back there.

If we were to do anything for Ichigo, it’d have to wait until later.

* * *

In the middle of the night, I have to pee. It’s a usual occurrence for me, so I wander the halls, trying to find the bathroom. We hadn’t seen one at all since getting here—since we were with Kūkaku and trying to use the Reishūkaku. I hope they had indoor bathrooms here—they didn’t at the Elder’s home and I nearly lost my life trying to use the bathroom there and I didn’t want a repeat. Luckily, the bathroom here was easy to find and even easier to use.

“Thank  _ God _ for flushable toilets…” I mumble.

Walking back towards the room that Kukaku had allowed me and the others to sleep in, I pass by the training hall. Being around everyone has me attuned to their Reiryoku, though I’m still rather new at picking out Ichigo from Uryu and Sado. I can still do it, but it takes more thought than picking Urahara from Tessai-san or something. I’m still getting used to everyone’s colors and feelings when sensing their reiatsu, so it usually takes a minute of me standing still to figure out who is who. 

Down the hall, I could tell that Sado and Uryu were sleeping still, though Uryu was more like napping while Sado was completely out, his Reiryoku rising and falling very, very slowly like breathing while Uryu’s seemed to have something like erratic jitters or spikes of when he would be consciously awake for a couple of seconds—I’m sure he was waiting for me to come back.

I slide open the janky broken door to the training hall. It makes a loud, horrid sound that has me cringing, “Hey, Kurosaki…” I whisper, “You awake?”

“Yeah.” Ichigo sounds tired and I hear him shift around, I’m sure he’s sitting up and probably staring in my general direction. I pick my way towards him, hands out to feel for anything and he practically snatched my hand to pull me down to sit. I squeak in surprise, falling to my knees.

“T-Thanks.” I say, making myself comfortable. We’re silent for a few moments while I figure out what to say. Humor was an option—one I used a lot, but nonetheless my best option. “Wow,” I chuckle and lean back on my hands, getting comfortable for what might turn out to be a long chat. “You  _ really _ know how to make an impression on someone. I’m sure if Kūkaku had friends other than a talking cat and an old pervert shopkeeper who lives in another world, you’d be a  _ big _ topic of conversation.”

Ichigo scoffs, “Don’t remind me.” His stomach growls lowly and he groans. I reach into my shirt and pull out a candy bar, poking Ichigo with it. “More candy? How many of these did you bring?” 

Ichigo takes it from me and I can hear the crinkling of him unwrapping it.

“Candy is quick and easy to eat—plus I took it all from the front end of the Urahara shop. It’s… pretty much the only thing we carry in mega-sized bulk and the only thing I could take that wouldn’t absolutely kill my paycheck to do so.” I laugh lightly. 

I hadn’t thought much about the Urahara shop or everyone else. I’d been so focused on doing things here that I wasn’t thinking about them for the moment. 

I touch the bracelet on my wrist, fingers running over the beads lightly. Wow, I was gross, missing them even though it’d only been around a day or two since we left them. I didn’t know how long we’d be here, but I hoped we could actually rescue Rukia without incident, but I know that’s not going to happen.

“Makes sense.” Ichigo’s voice is muffled, probably from the candy bar. 

“You okay, though?” I then ask, nudging him. “I mean, that was a pretty big upset.”

“...I thought I had it.” He confesses with a heavy sigh, “I mean… I thought I could do this—like  _ everything _ , then we could just leave and get Rukia and go back home. But if I can’t do this then…”

“Hey,” I stop him, lightly smacking his knee. Time to try my hand at another pep talk. “It’s like… we’re here—we’re  _ all _ here—so you don’t have to act like you’re the end-all, be-all, you know? So, what if you can’t do the thing? It’s only  _ one  _ thing, you know. You  _ can  _ make mistakes, you know. Nobody’s calling you Mr. Perfect Prince—Uryu’s got you beat for that title.” Ichigo snorts in amusement, “…If things work out, we’ll only have to do this once. So we can cover for you this time, alright?”

“I guess, but… that man from yesterday…” Ichigo sounds bitter at the memory, “He was… really strong. His power…  _ overwhelming _ . And there’s more like him in there too. Do we even stand a chance?”

“Don’t worry about him.” I tell Ichigo, “C’mon, why are you acting so scared?” 

It wasn’t in Ichigo’s character to act scared—or maybe it was and he didn’t often show how he was truly feeling, because he felt he had to be the strong one and he had nobody to talk to. He was the one that everyone looked up to, so he had to be strong all the time.

“Because you were scared— _ all _ of you. And I don’t want anyone getting hurt, so I need to be more cautious. If you hadn’t’ve stopped me from rushing into the Seireitei like that, I’d be a goner.” He quietly said. “And then what?”

“Yeah, we were scared, but we’re all still here, aren’t we? We’re going to rescue Rukia and we’re all gonna go back home and sing  _ Asterisk _ and kumbaya around a fire, alright?” Ichigo chuckles at my words. “Nobody is gonna get hurt as long as we watch out for each other. You have to have more faith. We have faith in you, y’know. I mean, why else would we be here if we didn’t think you’d lead us to victory? We’re a team, so we gotta look out for each other. Don't shoulder all the burden, we all made a choice and we’re all gonna follow through, so don’t feel like you have to do everything by yourself. Let us help you, stupid.”

Ichigo is quiet for a long time before he finally says anything. “You’re right. I… I can’t go around doubting myself—or you guys. We came here for a reason, and we’re gonna do what we have to. To get Rukia back.”

“That’s the spirit of a leader!” I cheer, feeling around for room to stand up. “Well, lemme—!”

“Er, Inoue,” Ichigo stops me with a hand on my wrist.

“Hm?” 

“Do you... have another candy bar?” Ichigo asks sheepishly.

I chuckle, shaking my head. “I’m pretty much made of candy.” I pull out another candy bar. “Sorry they’re kind of warm. I... I don’t have pockets.”

“So... where were they?” Ichigo asks, taking the candy bar from me. There’s the crinkling sound of him unwrapping it.

“They were in my bra.” I say plainly. There’s the sound of Ichigo choking and coughing and hacking while I snicker. “Well, as much fun as this is, we should sleep. Don’t stay up too late, yeah? We can’t have you ill prepared for what’s to come.”

“I won’t.” Ichigo promises, his coughing fit dying down. “And… Inoue?” I pause once more, “Thanks.”

“C’mon, what are friends for?” I scoff, leaving the room. “Good night, Kurosaki.”

I guess I was suddenly the ‘team therapist’, huh? I hope I was doing a good job. I didn’t think Ichigo would open up to me the way he did—maybe it was because of what I told him? That he could come talk to me about whatever it was? I mean, he could, and I was trying to do the best I could in being there for him. 

What Ichigo needed was a friend—someone who was going to assure him that he was doing the right thing and would be there beside him no matter what. He didn’t need someone weak, he needed someone with a strong will, and while Uryu did have a good head on his shoulders, the two were too alike in some ways that made it hard for them to connect—look at how awkwardly they’d had lunch together. Sure, it was getting better, but that would take much, much too long.

Sado was a good friend too, but he was just going to let Ichigo do whatever—I’m sure that if I hadn’t of stopped Ichigo while we were at the gates, he would’ve let Ichigo go right in, and went along with him before thinking. It looked like even though Ichigo was the leader of our group, I had to be the one who looks out for everyone, since these kids were much too reckless. I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

Looks like everything boiled down to me. Inoue, what had you been doing in your canon? Ichigo may have brought the group together, but someone had to be the glue that held us together—and Rukia wasn’t going to be with us most of the time, so I had to do it. It was going to be a tough job, but I think I can handle it. After all, I was setting out to be different than Inoue, and this was just one of the ways I was going to do it. After this arc is over, everyone is going to have some serious hang time so we can all be best friends—and they’re all buying me food.

I reach the room that we’re staying in and slowly creep back in. “Where were you?” Uryu’s voice is quiet, but it startles me because I hadn’t been checking to see if they were awake now or not.

“Bathroom.” I quickly say, taking my place on the futon. It wasn’t exactly a lie, because I had gotten up with bathroom intentions and maybe to see if Ichigo was awake, and if he wasn’t, then I would’ve just come straight back. 

Uryu hums and I get cozy in my futon. “If you were going to go see Kurosaki, you should’ve taken the food I saved for him.” Uryu then says, “Probably would’ve done more than a candy bar.”

“Didn’t think he was gonna be awake.” I replied, “So I just took what I had.”

“I guess he’ll just eat in the morning then.” Uryu yawns, “Good night, Hoshiko-san.” Well, it was nice to know that even Uryu was making an effort. This is how a team comes together!

* * *

In the morning, after eating breakfast with the others and doing somewhat of a debrief with Yoruichi, who was trying to tell us what to expect in the Seireitei, Sado and I stand outside with Yoruichi, Kūkaku and the twins. Yoruichi’s tail is bent awkwardly and nobody has said anything about it for fear of angering the cat even more. I clutch my sides, frowning. I didn’t want to go through  _ that _ again either. Boy had a death grip like nobody’s business.

“Are y’all nervous?” Kūkaku asks Sado and I.

I look to Sado who shrugs, “I’m kind of nervous and excited—in a weird way. I’m ready to get Rukia back.”

“I just hope that we can keep it together in the Seireitei.” Sado adds in his own feelings, “This is so different than what I thought would be happening.”

“What did you think was going to happen?” I ask, tilting my head up to look at the cannon.

“…not this.” Sado says cryptically. “Where are the others?” I point, seeing Ichigo and Uryu come outside and cross the field. The two step up onto the platform and Uryu joins us with a small wave of greeting while Ichigo stares at Yoruichi’s tail.

“Hey, good morning, y’all.” Ichigo greets, hand raised, “Yoruichi, what happened to your tail? It looks like a.. what do you call it…? Oh! A… pipe cleaner? Flexible toothbrush?”

“What?!” Yoruichi nearly shrieks and Ichigo backs away, “Y-You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Yoruichi walks away, though there’s not much pep in her step. “M-My precious tail...”

“Wh-What happened?”

“I dunno, Kurosaki.” I sneer, glaring at him, “What  _ did _ happen?” Ichigo looks confused and I turn way, looking at the cannon again.

“What’s up with her now? She wasn’t like that last night.” Ichigo whispers—though he’s bad at it, so I can still clearly hear him.

Uryu doesn’t bother lowering his voice, “When Yoruichi-san went to wake you up, you grabbed his tail and… well, you were gripping it pretty hard, so it took all of us to release the tail, so… best not to mention it ever again.”

“And Inoue?”

“Hoshiko-san was the one who eventually freed your hand from Yoruichi-san’s tail and eventually decided to heal you from Yoruichi-san’s scratches—which surprisingly didn’t wake you up—but in the process… Well...” Uryu trailed, “You’re lucky that Sado carried her out of the room, she was going to hurt you way worse than that for what you did.”

“Well, that kind of explains the sting on my face.” Ichigo holds his cheek. Served him right.

This didn’t happen to Inoue when she helped free Ichigo! “Hey,” Kūkaku comes back over, slapping the back of Ichigo’s neck. He grunts, rubbing his neck. “Where’s Ganju? He was in the room with you, right?”

“Oh… him. Last I saw, he was chanting something in that room before Uryu came and got me.” Ichigo jerked his thumb back towards the home, glaring at Kūkaku. 

“I’m here!” Ganju suddenly appears, running up onto the platform and striking a pose, “Y’know… it’s only customary practice that the hero is the last to arrive—woah!” Ganju trips over the last step and it’s all I can do not to laugh at him, but it comes out anyway.

“The hero should watch where he’s going so he doesn’t make a fool of himself!” Kūkaku chides him, “Everyone, get ready.”

“I don’t want him to come with us!” Ichigo points at Ganju. “If he's just gonna start problems—”

“Relax, boy.” Ganju scoffs, crossing his arms, “I… The reason I hate Shinigami is… my brother, who loves being a Shinigami… he was killed by one.” The silence is palpable between us at his words. I glance at everyone and their reactions seem kind of muted, obviously everyone is unsure of why he's decided to tell us. 

“So, while I have my feelings on the matter and I don't truly understand why you all want to rescue whoever this Shinigami is... I want to understand. I… I want to believe in your cause—since it's a selfless cause, for a friend. It's noble or something… so, I think by going with you guys, I can learn a lot from you… and you.” He looks at Ichigo, then slides his gaze over to me.

“Hmph, I dunno what changed you, but I guess… you can come with us. I'm sorry about your brother, though.” Ichigo relents. 

I guess what I said to him yesterday threatened him into respecting us? Or maybe Ichigo talked to him? Well, I may not have said whatever Inoue had said in my position, but it still left an impact on him.

“Are we all ready to go now?” Yoruichi asks, looking the group over. We nod, but Ichigo steps forward.

“Wait. Can you even use the Reishūka-thing, Yoruichi?” Ichigo questions the cat.

“Kurosaki, c’mon, you’d have to be as stupid as homeboy over here to think that Yoruichi can’t.” I roll my eyes, jerking my thumb at Ganju. I wanted to get the show on the road, we were wasting time.

“No, no, Hoshiko.” Yoruichi speaks, “Ichigo, set down the orb.” Ichigo sets down the orb in front of Yoruichi, who moves to stand on it. A barrier forms easily around the cat and Ichigo somehow looks comically dejected. Uryu pats his back, pushing up his glasses.

“Nobody’s good at everything, Kurosaki.” He quietly tries to assure Ichigo, but it’s obvious that it doesn’t work.

“There are many things I am good at that you probably cannot do, Ichigo.” Yoruichi comments, awkwardly flicking her tail.

“Okay! Let’s get a move on, we’re losin’ the element of surprise and the cover of the sun risin’ if we don’t hurry!” Kukaku heralds us into the cannon, shutting the door. 

“One last thing,” Yoruichi jumps up, sitting on Sado’s shoulder, “If you see a captain, you need to get away from that area as fast as you can—do  _ not _ engage. We’re going to rescue Rukia and nothing else, understand?”

“Yes!” The group of us chorus, though I’m sure the warning is more geared towards Ichigo who will probably run off no matter what—especially since we’ll be split apart upon entry to the Seireitei. 

It’s dark inside the cannon and filled with the anticipation everyone feels. “Make the cannonball!” Yoruichi instructs. It’s a bundle of nerves and excitement as we all place our hands on the orb Ganju was holding, forming a barrier around us. It’s stable enough, I can’t feel any anomalies that are too big to handle at the moment. I take a deep breath. 

This was it, we were heading into the Seireitei, there was no turning back now even if we wanted to. There’s a muffled yell from outside and we’re shot into the air, but there’s not enough room for air displacement in the orb, so we don’t float, instead, it’s as if we were just going up an elevator at supersonic speeds until we finally see the sky, and the sunrise.

I won’t lie, everything looks positively beautiful from up here—even the shanty towns of the others Rukongai districts. The sun has just risen, so there isn’t much of anyone outside—animals roam through the clearings that we can see and the sun hasn’t fully bathed anything in its warmth yet. All in all, it’s rather peaceful.

“Woah…” I gasp in awe. We could see all of the countryside as we went up higher and higher. I glance at everyone else. The only one fully concentrating on the orb is Ichigo while everyone else is looking outside of the orb. “This… this isn’t so bad…”

“We’ve only just begun.” Ganju pulls a scroll out of his pocket and unfurls it. “Sis gave us ‘lift’ and now I need to give us ‘direction’.”

“So there  _ was _ a purpose for you coming with us.” Uryu pushes his glasses up with one had. At this point, the only one who hasn't insulted Ganju yet is Sado, and I hoped I would be there for his insult.

Ganju scoffs, deciding against saying anything and looks down at his scroll. “I’m going to need absolute silence so that I can read this.” The group goes quiet and I look out the orb, taking in the sights.

That’s when I feel it. “Kurosaki.” I speak, drawing the others’ attention aside from Ganju who is busy reciting, “Can you… chill with the Reiryoku?” His Reiryoku was acting haywire again and I could feel the orb spasming because of it, “Remember how we did it yesterday? I know it was only the few times, but... can you remember it? Try to do it like that.”

Ichigo grunts, nodding and tries to correct his Reiryoku—and I’m using ‘try’  _ very _ loosely. He’s unable to do so and if anything, there’s  _ more _ Reiryoku pouring out of him and it’s disrupting everything. My own output is getting wonky because the moment I pull in my Reiryoku to make room for Ichigo’s, I have to pull it back out to fill the space. He’s pulling and pushing oddly, and I can see he’s trying to correct it, but he doesn’t know what the problem is.

“Kurosaki—!”

“Ichigo—!”

“I  _ know _ !” Ichigo snaps at us, “I’m  _ trying _ , I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!” Ganju falters in his reciting for a moment before he continues, glancing up at me, silently saying that we had to handle this.

“Don’t get upset, Ichigo.” Yoruichi tries to appease him, but it’s clear Ichigo is getting agitated and embarrassed with having his shortcoming thrown back in his face repeatedly and knowing that it’s affecting others.

“I’m not getting upset!” Ichigo’s voice rises slightly, and there’s a redness, probably from embarrassment and anger, spreading across his face.

“Yes you are!” I raise my voice to match his, “You need to calm down, Ichigo. Just breath!” Sado and Uryu agree with me and Ichigo looks somewhat betrayed. Sorry, Ichigo, but I really didn’t want this to turn out bad. “Nobody’s upset, we just want to help.”

“I  _ am _ breathing!” Ichigo’s breath becomes labored and Ganju snaps at him. “I’m calm, so you guys need to back off!”

“Stop! I’m repeating lines because of you! And you really need to calm down!” Ganju yells. “How am I supposed to guide us if you’re just yelling and snapping at everyone when they’re trying to help your dumbass?”

“Ganju, just keep reciting, we’ll deal with this okay?” I suggest to Ganju, who tries to go back to reading.

“Brace for impact!” Yoruichi yells. I look past Ichigo, noting that the Seireitei was much, much closer than I’d thought. I guess we were going at faster speeds than it looked, because the sun was still rising. We probably didn’t notice because we were trying to deal with Ichigo’s Reiryoku.

“D-Dammit!” Ganju curses loudly and the ball hurtles towards the membrane of the Seireitei. 

I’ll admit it, I was kind of scared. Before, I had been comparing my experiences to Inoue’s and I hadn’t even thought about what it was going to be like actually doing this—but here I was and I was terrified. We could seriously die if things didn’t go right, and I don’t know why I didn’t realize this sooner.

This really was life or death.

“What’s going to happen now?” Uryu shouts, looking around, “We don’t have enough power!”

“We have to break through, everyone! Pour all your Reiryoku into the orb!” Yoruichi yells back. I grunt loudly with effort and pour a good portion of my Reiryoku into the orb and feel the others do so as well. Ichigo is trying, but his is still the same amount as it was before, still wobbly and floating around in the orb and pretty much doing whatever it wanted, though I could feel a slight panic in it—boy, this guy did  _ not _ do well under pressure.

The ball smacks into the membrane of the Seireitei with a loud  _ thunk _ , only halfway in as the membrane tries to close on us and split the orb apart. Only Ichigo, Ganju and I are on the inside half of the orb while Sado, Yoruichi and Uryu are on the outside. “Kurosaki! Your Reiryoku!” I shout, gripping his hand. “Release it all!”

Ichigo seems to get the memo and yells, a rush of Reiryoku goes through us and the orb and it pushes through, nearly dispelling upon entry. We float there for a moment. Uryu’s yell catches my attention and I see that he’s far away from us. “Sado! Kick it!” I throw out my hands, “ _ S-Santen Kesshun _ ! I reject!” The shield materializes between us and Sado kicks off of it, rocketing to grab Uryu.

The moment he grabs Uryu, the two are pushed out of the whirlpool of energy holding us in the air. Oh, shit. Oh  _ fuck _ . That wasn’t supposed to happen. Uryu was supposed to be with me! “Sado! Uryu!” I shriek, watching the two fall away, almost like a shooting star. 

“Leave them! They’ll be fine!” Yoruichi yells, “Hoshiko! Grab onto Ichigo!” I couldn’t be alone, there was no way I could handle things on my own. “We need to try to stay together as best we can!” 

I needed at least one person there to help me. I grunt, swimming slowly to turn and grab Ichigo. Even if it changed things, I had to go with Ichigo. In the long run, maybe it would be the better option. 

I was  _ afraid _ . I didn't want to be alone.

“Ino— _ Hoshiko _ !” Ichigo calls out, his hand reaching out to grab mine. I can vaguely see Ganju and Yoruichi holding onto Ichigo, panic in their eyes.

“ _ Ichigo _ !” I call back, trying my best to grab Ichigo, our fingertips touch. I can feel tears of relief in my eyes as I try to lace our fingers together for a better grip, but it doesn’t work. Ichigo’s face drops, as I know mine does and I know I’m screwed. 

I scream and it echoes and probably filled with Reiatsu and fear as Ichigo and I hurtle in opposite directions, thanks to the cannonball’s final explosion.

Now, I was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE WE IS!!! Back with another chapter!! And we got to see the Real Ichigo. The Ichigo the media doesn't want to show you. Insecure teenager boy. ugh he gives ME chills too. Sado not the only one. But as always, thanks for reading! Hope y'all continue & we're gettin' close to the Rescue!! Updates, like they have been since I started school, will be every 2 weeks for now! Just a heads up.


	21. Soul Society: The Sneak Entry Arc: Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko, Alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> low-key teenage angst alert

 There isn’t much time to think, there is only time to do.

The ground is hurtling towards me and I’m sure more than sure they know we’re here by the loud sirens blaring as I fall. I’m scared, the fear gnaws at my stomach and makes me feel sick, I’d throw up if I hadn’t burned off most of the food with using Reiryoku everything falls fast and yet it falls slow.

It feels—in my mind—like I’m stuck in that whirlpool of two opposing Reiryoku types—ours and the Seireitei membrane, but I’ve left that far, far behind. I can’t even see it anymore, since I’m still facing the ground, soon I’ll smack into it.

There’s time, but not _enough_ . There’s time to realize I need to _do something_ and time to realize I’ve screwed up _again_. I can’t use the Shun Shun Rikka yet, I only have one chance at this—if I use it too early, I’d be in trouble and if I used it too late, I’d be dead. This was all about the timing.

“Hinagiku, Baigon, _Lily_!” I call the three fairies out. Well, it was more like a desperate shrieking that came from my mouth, barely intelligible and it was a wonder that someone, anyone hadn’t heard me, hadn’t come and knocked me out of the sky. Maybe they were thinking that I would just smack against the ground and just end my existence right them.

Sorry, but that wasn’t happening.

As panicked as I was, I had faced hollow and I had trained with Yoruichi and Urahara and I knew danger. As caught up as I was in all my other emotions, I knew what I had to do. I had to save myself. And that meant, I had to use my powers at every turn. Hopefully they wouldn’t get too mad at the overuse of them.

So, I knew what I had to do. I had to get them ready, I didn’t have time for a delay between me calling them and them arriving. This had to be perfect. The wind rushing in my ears and the adrenaline pumping through my veins stops me from hearing their arrival, but I can vaguely see Hinagiku by my side, so I know they’ve heard my call.

The ground gets closer and closer and I throw my hands out, trying to focus on the perfect place to land. “ _Santen Kesshun_ … I reject!” I scream. The shield forms just a few feet above the ground, just enough so that if I dispel it, I won’t be too hurt. I slam into the shield, hearing something crack and I groan, unbearable pain explodes up and down my arm and my vision goes white and dark all at the same time. I couldn’t make my shields softer to land against, and even though it had an airbag-like quality, it was still rather… _painful_ to land on if you weren’t ready.

The shield cracks, shattering and dropping me to the ground with an even more painful thud.

* * *

The moment I get up, I feel pain exploding down my right side, more specifically, my right arm. I quickly clutch it, willing away the tears of pain as I shakily look around. My vision is still blurred from the pain and I see white spots. I blink, trying to clear them away and it helps somewhat, just enough so that I can take a look at my surroundings. I seem to be in some sort of alleyway, blocked off on one end and it’s narrow.

At least I didn’t hit anything on my way down and acquire more bruises, so that was lucky. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around either, which is also lucky, but I knew I needed to move.

I had just survived death, but I wasn’t out of the woods yet. Everything was so real, _too real._ We almost _died_. It was all fun and games before—back when we were just training and not facing off against anything more than hollow—and they were the weakest of the weak at that. We didn’t know what we were up against—Urahara and Yoruichi tried to prepare us, but really, until you experienced it, you wouldn’t truly know what it was like.

I was so out of my depth, it was crazy. I breathed out, trying to calm myself but I could feel tears slip out my eyes and fall down my cheeks—whether it was out of delayed pain or out of fear, I wasn’t sure, but they were falling, and I don’t think I could stop them even if I wanted to. I sniffled, wiping them away and clearing my throat. I needed to stay calm lest my reiatsu leak out, out of fear. I had to focus on something else other than my near-death experience.

How long had I been out? Glancing up at the sky told me that the sun was still not completely overhead, it was still just coming out, so it couldn’t have been maybe more than twenty minutes to half an hour, which was lucky. Man, I was just getting lucky breaks left and right. I guess I needed something since I’d completely screwed the canon once again, and myself.

Uryu was with _Sado_ , not with me.

So, I’d messed everything up once again. I could only wonder vaguely what that could mean for me and the others. I sigh, moving to put my head in my hands only to grunt when I move my arm too much. Okay, I had to be more careful of this arm. And I didn’t have anything to splint my arm or put it up in a sling, I’d left my bag with anything that might have helped me back at Kūkaku’s. I hadn’t even thought of it—I should’ve remembered, I had put some bandages in there.

“Dammi— _ow_!” I grunt, immediately dropping my arm. I wasn’t sure if it was broken—I’d never broken a bone before, so I didn’t know what that pain felt like. But at the moment, it was bearable if I didn’t move it too much, so I think it was just dislocated or sprained or something. As long as it wasn’t broken, I didn’t care.

“Ayame, Shun’o.” I call their names quietly. The two appear with the something that sounds like sparkles and look over me in concern. I hadn’t spoken to them much since the other day, but I was sure that they had been keeping a close eye on what I’ve been doing through the hairpins.

I breathe out, trying to calm myself. “S-So…” I begin shakily, looking up at them. I’m sure there’s pain in my eyes, but the best way to deal with a shitty situation is humor. “…Don’t suppose I can reject my own injuries?”

Shun’o frowns, shaking his head. “Yeah,” I sigh, “Didn’t think so.”

“Your powers are meant for others, sadly.” Shun’o informs me. “It’s hard to explain, but… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” I say to them, but I’m more trying to reassure myself. I couldn’t heal myself and I was injured without someone to help me out—I hadn’t realized how much I depended on Tessai and Urahara until they suddenly weren’t around anymore. It was kind of like a smack in the face. “Thanks anyway, guys.” I return them to save some of my Reiryoku, even if keeping them out just took a tiny trickle of it from me. I needed to conserve it since I had used a lot just getting into here.

Now wasn’t the time to think about my pain, I had to weigh my options. So… I wasn’t with Uryu. Uryu was…with Sado and Ichigo was with Ganju and Yoruichi was... yeah. The whole of our time in the Seireitei, I was supposed to spend it with Uryu up until… _Mayuri_. I gulped. I’d have to do my best to avoid him. He was creepy, to say the least and to say the most, he was an abomination and I really didn’t want to deal with him. I really didn’t want to run into him, but I couldn’t remember what led us to meeting him.

The pain was clouding my thoughts, but I was sure even if I wasn’t in pain, I probably wouldn’t remember. Details slowly left me as time went on and even though I’d only been here since the end of May, I was losing a lot of details about this rescue mission. But, it wasn’t that big a deal, I’d remembered my most important meeting with a character and that was enough for me.

Now I just had to avoid it. And to avoid it, I couldn’t stay here anymore. I had to move, and quickly.

I’d just have to take care to make sure that I wasn’t seen. I shouldn’t have acted so rashly—Sado would have been fine on his own, but I thought that giving Sado a boost towards Uryu would help him get to Uryu to throw him back at me—but I overcalculated. When I pushed my shield at Sado and he kicked off of it, it was much too close and he overshot as well when he pushed off.

Then, when he got to Uryu, he entered a different current of the reiatsu whirlpool than us—one could tell because they were spinning in a different direction than the rest of us. And when Uryu tried to grab him, well, the momentum and Sado’s weight was probably too much for him, resulting in the two hurtling towards the ground much sooner than the rest of us.

I grunt, scooting towards the wall to help myself up. My arm was getting to be near useless, so I had to just let it dangle by my side until I could figure something out. I could do this. I _had_ to do this.

My primary objective was that I needed to find Sado and Uryu—if I ran into Ichigo and the others, well, that would be just as fine, I guess. I stood a better chance with back up, since I was more of a ranged fighter thanks to Tsubaki anyway. I could, probably do hand-to-hand, but with how my arm is now, I wouldn’t get very far. I had to make due for now and avoid as much as I could, but I’d fight if I had to.

And I couldn’t stay here. They would find me in no time if I stayed in one place. I was just lucky that I wasn’t bleeding. I touched my arm, grunting at the feeling of my fingertips pressing against it. No doubt it would be bruised and swell soon enough. I shrug off my jacket somewhat, careful not to disturb my arm too much. Thanks to the fact that I was wearing a tank-top, I could see somewhat of a forming bruise at the top of my shoulder.

Slowly, I pulled my jacket back on. Okay, it was time to go, I couldn’t stay here any longer.

* * *

I walked for what felt like hours, and probably _was_ hours. The sun was high in the sky now and I hadn’t run into anything that seemed dangerous or anywhere I could hide. It seemed like I’d landed in a good place—there was hardly anybody around, and if they did come by, they were just far enough away that I didn’t run into anyone. I don’t know how they navigated this place.

The Seireitei, for all intents and purposes, I’m sure, was like a maze. There were dead ends with dumpsters and old-looking places that looked like they used to be stores, much like the alleyways back in the Human World. Things were the same, yet different. The walls were high, making it so that I couldn’t see much of anything if I didn’t back away far enough and I couldn’t jump high or anything like that, so I was basically lost. Traversing the Seireitei was a problem—I was a Ryoka and I didn’t know my way around.

Halfway through stumbling around randomly and getting lucky with avoiding Shinigami, I’d decided that I needed to hole up somewhere for the time being and find something that I could help sling my arm with. My shoulder was starting to numb, but moving it or touching it reminded me that it was still in pain. It wasn’t swelling too badly at this point, but I knew a nasty bruise was forming. I had to wrap this up soon.

I continued walking, though it was a slow kind of gait that only served to stop having me jostle my arm so much. What could I do? I was kind of out sorts with myself right now. I couldn’t sense anything—probably because I was nowhere near anybody I knew. Even Ichigo’s large, barely contained Reiryoku wasn’t around, not even faintly. At least feeling his reiatsu would help ease me a little bit. It was odd, going from a near constant of familiar reiatsu to just nothing at all. I felt... strangely human and vulnerable.

I didn’t like this feeling.

Well, wherever Ichigo had crashed was much, much too far for me to sense, plus I wasn’t all that good at sensing things at far distances anyway. I couldn’t sense Sado and Uryu either, but that might’ve been intentional—the two had good control over their Reiryoku—Uryu even more so—so maybe Uryu had advised Sado to lower his Reiryoku so much that he couldn’t be sensed. That would make it hard for me to find them.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair with my good arm. Finding them was going to be a lot more trouble than I thought. I pause, ducking behind a wall and listening. I could sense a group of Shinigami running by on the other side of the wall. I pulled in my Reiryoku—which I’d let idle just in case someone I knew was nearby. I’d have to keep it in a closer check now that I knew they were nowhere near me.

I found another alleyway and sank to the ground as another group passed by on the other side of the wall. I was getting tired, I had basically no energy left. I had to get up soon, but I was tired and scared… I had no adrenaline left—that was gone once I’d managed to bypass the first and second platoons of Shinigami a couple hours back. And the energy from breakfast was burned with the Reishūkaku. I needed to either sleep or find some food. And finding somewhere to sleep was probably the better option.

Luckily, I hadn’t managed to run into anyone of note—it was easy to tell who was noteworthy and who wasn’t. All the Shinigami I’d run into were more than likely unseated, grunt members of each division that were passed around like a dirty towel after a grueling practice. This was good, because grunt Shinigami were probably weaker than I was—even though my arm was broken. If it really came down to it, I could finish them off easily.

I was alone in this place and that wasn’t any help at all. I had no idea where I was going—if I was getting closer to where Rukia was held, or getting further away. What if I just died here because I couldn’t find anyone? I shook it from my head, I couldn’t die here. I made promises to Jinta and everyone back home I would come back.

And I promised everyone who I came with the same thing. I couldn’t give up now. Grunts of effort pour from my mouth as I stand up, once again trying to weigh my options. Even though I couldn’t sense anyone, maybe they were still close by? If so, I’d have to get their attention.

Maybe… maybe I could start a fight? No, that’s too risky. Yoruichi said not to get into anything unnecessary, so I couldn’t go around starting fights. I walk out of the alley, hand on my chin. Then what could I do?

“You there!” Someone shouts. I turn, seeing a platoon of Shinigami standing not too far from me. Shit, I was in trouble now.

“Sorry, arm…” I push off of the ground, using both arms to help me do so and I start running, taking off down the road while the Shinigami gather, yelling and shouting as they follow me. The turns here aren’t sharp enough for me to skid and slam into something, but I do so about two times, probably out of fear and nerves. I wish I had known Kido or something that would help me throw them off my trail, or at least stop them. I couldn’t call out the fairies, since I didn’t need to waste Reiryoku at the moment. And Tsubaki would draw unneeded attention to myself by running through the grunt Shinigami like flies.

“Hey! Stop!” Another voice, different from before says as I pass them by. Just great, now I had two groups chasing after me. This would’ve been so much better if Uryu was with me.

I push my body fast, trickling Reiryoku into my feet to help enhance my speed, but it’s not enough. I have to fight. “Okay, _Tsubaki_!” I yell, hand placed up against my hairpins. Tsubaki comes out and I turn, facing the Shinigami, “Let’s get this over with!” Tsubaki doesn’t waste any time and runs through the Shinigami. I run after him in a last-ditch effort to do something. “Let them have it!”

Tsubaki flies straight up into the air and slams down, striking the ground and creating a crater. The crater knocks them all back into the walls, bodies slamming against them and slumping. Their reiatsu was still pretty strong, but getting fainter so it seemed like they were losing consciousness.

“W-Woah…” I don’t have time to look on in awe. Tsubaki is back next to me and we’re running again.

I leave the massacre of Shinigami behind in the dust and skid to a halt, careening into what looks like a storage room. I slam into the door with a loud thud and look around, hoping that nobody had heard me or seen me. Luckily, there wasn’t a soul around at all. I go inside and shut the door, leaning heavily against it and lower my Reiryoku to nearly a whisper. They weren’t looking too closely at my Reiryoku, I could tell—by lowering it and hiding, that’s how I escaped the first couple of grunt platoons following me.

Now, we wait.

I don’t know how long I’ve been in here, but I’ve heard various Shinigami come by, but none of them have even bothered checking in here. I don’t understand it—don’t they think that a storage room would be a place that someone would hide? I guess they don’t truly care to look for me that hard. I didn’t need to tell them how to do their jobs anyway, I wasn’t fancying getting caught by them.

I move away from the door, climbing over a stack of crates and huddling into the corner behind it. This wasn’t the best place to be when it came down to getting out and wanting to attack, but being in the small corner made me safe, and that’s all I needed right now.

The storage room is filled with crates and boxes, I don’t know exactly what’s in them, but they’re all stacked high and the room isn’t much bigger than the gym storage back at school, so there really isn’t much room to breathe in here, but it was fine for now, I couldn’t be picky with what I had.

In the storage room, there’s small windows that are high and line the back wall and two side walls, which I watch the day go by. The setting sun illuminates the room in an orange-ish glow and I sigh, I wish we had had a map, or at least some time to look at everything when we were up in the barrier orb. We were so underprepared for this, it wasn’t even funny.

There’s nothing I can do now and this place is the safest bet, so I decide to just stay here for the night. Tomorrow, I’d need to move, I couldn’t stay in this area any longer than I had to. I could, potentially, start looking for where Rukia is being held. I know that they’ve probably moved her to that white tower by now—what it was called, I don’t know. Tomorrow I would have to make my way up somewhere high so that I could figure out which direction to go.

I carefully lie down on my side. I knew I wouldn’t be readily able to defend myself, but maybe sleeping some more would help me regain more Reiryoku and I could figure out something with my arm.

I dream of singing karaoke with my friends.

* * *

When I wake up the next morning, I search the storage room for anything that could help me do something for my arm. My shoulder area is swelling a lot more, and just from this I can tell that my shoulder is probably dislocated and because I hadn’t dealt with it before, it probably would hurt to push it back into place. The storage room doesn’t have much in it aside from what looks like old training gear and practice swords. I sigh, closing up another box. I’d wasted enough time in here trying to find something of use, it was time to move on.

I approach the door, my heart jumping into my throat as I open it, peering out. The sun hasn’t risen yet, so I still have some cover of darkness, but the sky is a gray color that’s lighting up as the seconds tick by. Sunrise would be within the next half hour or so, so I had to get a move on.

I open the door wide enough to allow myself enough room to slip out without too much pain to my arm and look around. The objective for the day was to find somewhere high, like a rooftop, and try to figure out where the hell I am.

It’s not easy maneuvering around in the Seireitei. The Shinigami move around in large groups of seven or eight—maybe even ten people—and avoiding them is hard to do since there’s so many bodies—sure, I can lower my Reiryoku not to be sensed, but I can still be seen sometimes. So far, I’ve run from three groups of Shinigami, and this was the fourth.

And I was actually doing pretty good for myself if I was being honest. Since yesterday’s chase scene, I decided that I wasn’t going to run, sure I managed to fight back yesterday, but today, I wasn’t taking any prisoners or running from a fight. These groups weren’t expecting me to be so… combat ready, I’m guessing.

My strategy—and I had just developed this today after running into the first group—was to lure them into thinking that I was just running for my life (which I actually was the first time), then I would turn, using Tsubaki to clear out a pathway between them to turn around and head the other way, and use my shield, swinging at any of the left-over Shinigami standing in order to make sure I wasn’t followed.

So far, it’d worked on all of the groups I’d passed so far and apparently word was spreading around.

“Get her! That girl is the _Red Hanabi_ !” One of them shouted. I had… a name? I don’t know how the name even originated or where it even _came_ from, as this was the first time I’d heard it. Was this what they were calling me? Had my exploits really spread so far within a day? I needed to lay low so that nobody higher than a grunt came after me. That’d be bad…

The name didn’t strike much fear into the heart—at least that's what I thought, but to these grunts, I was probably similar to dealing with a seated officer, dare I say a lieutenant. “Y-Your techniques won’t work on us!” One of them stammered out, holding his Zanpakutō out in front of him, though his grip was loose and shaky. “W-We know how you operate!”

I guess word really did get around in a place as big as this. I had to find the asshole who was talking about me and beat him up something fierce.

I didn’t have time to waste. I had to go. “Okay, then, I guess I’ll just have to show you a new technique!” I yelled back. But what could I do? I only had Tsubaki and the shield—which took time to be able to summon both. I was losing Reiryoku just by having them out. Wait… I could… maybe it could work.

I walk towards them. The group begins backing up, so I start running and skid to a halt, calling Tsubaki out. “Cover your ears if you can.” I murmur to Tsubaki.

The group watches me, all with wide eyes as I open my mouth and out pours one of the loudest screams I’ve done yet. The group is blown away, but I’m not done yet. Tsubaki races towards them, zipping through the Shinigami like they’re pieces of paper, a trail of what look to be flower petals following him. Hm, I’d never really noticed. Well, I guess that’s why I was the Red Hanabi.

Jeez, I’ve already made a name for myself and I’ve only been here for a day and a half. Tsubaki finishes them off, and I pick my way through the dispatched Shinigami, frowning. “Jeez, this is really bad.”

I’m at least glad the technique worked—hiding Tsubaki inside of the sound waves of my sonic scream was a good idea—one I’d been toying with since a while back, but I wasn’t sure if it would work. I didn’t know how well the two powers would work in tandem, but it worked fine. Checking Tsubaki over, it seemed as if he was unaffected by the scream, so this could possibly work again.

“You’re going to keep losing Reiatsu if you keep this up.” Tsubaki scolds me, frowning.

“No, not that.” I wave my good arm, “I mean… we need to get out of here so that we don’t get caught. The _Red Hanabi_ strikes again! Thank you! I’ll be here till we rescue the Kuchiki Rukia!” I bow before running off.

All of my running leads me to a building that seems mostly unguarded—and it’s lucky, because I can traverse it without having to do much of anything. I needed to find a bathroom and I needed to find a Shinigami uniform—despite my bright red hair, if I could just get a uniform, I was sure I’d be able to blend in. It seemed like they only knew me for the fact that I was wearing outsider clothes and my hair was red, if I had a uniform, I'd be able to blend in seamlessly. The Shinigami came in all sorts of shapes and sizes—and skin colors, so it would be easy to blend in. I’d have to do something about not having a sword, but I could claim that I’d forgotten it in my room or something for the time being.

I reach the roof and slam open the door, looking around. This building isn’t one of the taller ones, but it’s tall enough to meet my needs. I’m easily able to see over the maze that is the Seireitei and I scan the area, my eyes falling on someone I didn’t think I’d see yet.

Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi are in an alley a few streets over, staring at a dead end. I back away from the edge of the roof and pull in my reiatsu once more. It would mean _death_ to face him—he was easily one of the strongest people around and fighting him would be suicide. The sound of something popping catches my attention and I look up, seeing puffs of white smoke, similar to fireworks going off and somewhere in my mind, I register that it was Ganju. It was much, much too far for me to reach now, and I wasn’t jumping off of a building to get to him.

Kenpachi and Yachiru left shortly afterwards, obviously heading towards the source of the fireworks. If I remembered correctly, Kenpachi was searching for the strongest out of all of us, and that was Ichigo—even if it was _my_ new nickname people had in their mouths. I wait until he’s far enough away to let my guard down slightly. At least I could—I roll out of the way, calling out for my shield and throwing it up and watching something loudly smack against it.

I look up, good thing I was only in the process of letting my guard down. The man in front of me is large, easily towering over me on the rooftop and holds a large Zanpakutō in his hand.

“Oho,” He grins nearly maliciously, “What do we have here?” He eyes me and I stand, dropping my shield for a moment. This was bad—he looked much stronger than the grunts down there—maybe he was a seated officer? “You were very good to dodge me, I’m surprised.”

I grunt, placing my good arm on my left hairpin. “Perhaps if you hadn’t met me, you’d have lived a while longer. Sad, it is, but it can’t be helped. I’ll give you until ten to lament on this poor situation you’ve found yourself in.”

Who was this guy? He seemed familiar. Was I supposed to run into him? I wasn’t sure at this point. I kept my hand pressed to my hairpins as he counted to ten. I had to do something, there was nowhere to run and I was in no condition to do so anyway, he was probably at full stamina, so a chase would be easy for him. I had to fight, there was no other option. Shakily, I stared him head-on. I had to get this over with quickly.

“…ten!” He yelled, throwing out his hand and returning me to the present, “I hope you’ve spent the time lamenting your situation… now it’s time for another type of lamentation!” He doesn’t waste time and jumps at me.

“ _Santen Kesshun_! I reject!” I call out, falling onto my butt and throwing up the shield. He smacks into it with his sword, and I move, he drops onto the ground and I circle around so that I’m behind him. I can’t let him get behind me.

He still hasn’t introduced himself, so I still don’t remember what his Zanpakutō ability is. “ _Grk_!” I grunt, covering my eyes. This fucker is throwing debris at me. So, he wants to play dirty, huh? Well, two can play at this game.

I run towards him and just as he swings his Zanpakutō, I dodge narrowly, feeling the edge of his Zanpakutō slice me thinly on the side, okay, this was going to be a little harder than I thought. I roll to the side, narrowly avoiding him slamming his Zanpakutō into me.

I don’t even have a moment to asses the thin cuts that I’m getting from him swinging his sword at me. I’ve dodged a total of four times now and I’m thankful for all the training I’ve done. I’m not paralyzed by fear—more than likely because this man doesn’t have the ability to manipulate his reiatsu in ways that could paralyze someone in fear—and probably because it was more nerve wracking fighting anybody else.

Adrenaline was my best friend at the moment.

He rears up, yelling as he swings again, it’s clear he’s irritated with how I’m dodging. I dodge again, not managing to get up. Instead, his Zanpakutō gets stuck in the tiling of the roof and while he’s trying to pull it out, I back up, surveying the damage of the rooftop and what my options are. “Tsubaki…” I whisper. Tsubaki appears next to me, shrouded by the cloud of dust.

The roof is pretty much in shambles now, there are holes everywhere and I doubt that it will be able to stay standing at this rate. I had to finish this quickly so that I could get out of here.

“We’re going to use _that_ again. Get ready.” The dust clears and I see him rush towards me, I hold my ground, letting out a loud yell and vaguely, I see Tsubaki fly through the sound waves, the only indication that he’s there being the trail of flower petals that follow him.

Tsubaki heads straight for the large man, who is wobbling and covering his ears. The scream disorients him and Tsubaki is able to land a hard hit, cutting him on the shoulder. The man grunts out loudly in pain. “Hm, how about it?”

“I’ve never seen a move like that before…” He grips his shoulder, frowning, “And I sense that you’re ready to fight, but there is no intent to kill… worthless girl, if you don’t come after me with intent to kill, you’ll surely lose your life!” He runs towards me, raising his sword with one arm and slamming it down.

“ _Santen_ _Kesshun_!” I scream out, throwing up my hands and screaming at the pain that comes with me raising my right arm. The shield comes out easily despite me not saying the last bit of the incantation and his Zanpakutō hits the shield, his brute strength pushing me into the ground. He begins pounding his Zanpakutō against my shield in an attempt to break it, and every hit, I move further and further into the ground until I’m almost pinned.

No. _No_. _Not like this. It’s not ending like this._

I yell out once more, rearing up and mustering all of the Reiryoku that I can and pouring it into my arms and the shield. I then push upwards, with both arms and use my shield to knock him back. He doesn’t go far, but eases up and I scramble away from him, panting heavily.

This wasn’t going to be an easy fight. Whoever this man was… he was no joke. “You’re right… I don’t aim to kill…” I wipe my mouth of spit and some blood, “I aim to _maim_ . I aim to keep my opponent alive so they can feel _everything_ that I’ve done to them!” Tsubaki appears by my side once more, “So _please_ , give me the pleasure of doing so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, who knew we would reach 20 chapters?? I mean, technically we reached 20 last chapter, but that doesn't count bc prologue doesn't count. I didn't think I'd make it this far or have so many people like it. Thanks y'all, I really appreciate it. You're what keeps me goin' pretty much.
> 
> On a Blog related note, I put up an ask meme! I guess if y'all respond to it, I'll post them every other time I upload a chapter. If not, oh well.
> 
> EDIT: NOBODY TOLD ME I WROTE SOCIETY SOCIETY: THE SNEAK ENTRY ARC. I GUESS Y'ALL DIDN'T NOTICE BUT I DID LMAO


	22. Soul Society: The Sneak Entry Arc: Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nothing personal.” I raise my foot, stomping it into her forehead. She hits her head on the stall door and slumps, obviously knocked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter just ended up being a bridge chapter between this and the next Big Thing hoshiko gets caught up in. Oh jeez, get ready for that.

“You talk a big game, don’t you?” He says, holding his Zanpakutō in front of him, “Well, I believe that I am a fitting opponent for you, as I, too, use projectile weapons to fight. An interesting matchup, don’t you agree?”

Projectile weapons? Wait, _now_ I know who he is. His name still escapes me, but he uses multiple, small spinning blades to fight. And he can control them _…somehow_. How was I going to combat this? I couldn’t scream them away, since they’d just come back, and I didn’t want Tsubaki touching them—he could get seriously injured just by doing so, since they were sharp and this guy easily controlled them.

Sure, Tsubaki was fast and I wasn’t exactly afraid to have him attack someone, but there were a lot of them and eventually, he could get got. What could we do against him? _“Santen Kesshun…”_ I call quietly, the barrier raises slowly as the man places his hand on top of the blade of his Zanpakutō. If he was going to send them at me right away, I had to be prepared.

“ _F_ _lap Away! Tsunzakigarasu_!” He commands, slamming his hand down on top of the blade of the sword, only for it to disappear and fluttering into spinning blade in the air. There’s at least a dozen or more so blades spinning around him in the air. Fuck, what could I do against him? I had to calm down and think. “So, what do you think? Time to lament?I… I am the fourth seat of the Seventh Division… Jirōbō Ikkanzaka, also known as the Kamaitachi! And you’ll be another victim of my Wind Scythe technique.”

I back away from his spinning blades, watching them lazily twirl in the air, held in place by an unknown force as he continues his spiel, “My nickname proves that I’m the _best_ when it comes to dealing with projectile weapons! My countless blades dance through space… no-one has seen my Zanpakutō in its Shikai form and lived!”

“Consider me the first, then.” I sneer.

I still needed a plan, how was I going to beat him? I couldn’t compare this to Uryu, since Uryu was a Quincy and defeated him with his bow. I was on my own, so I had to think like Hoshiko and figure this out.

“Hm, once again, you talk a _lot_ for someone your size.” Jirōbō comments, “No matter, you can’t even follow my blades with your eyes, can you? Too fast?” I scan the sky, watching the blades twirl around Jirōbō without ever hitting him. They weren’t all that fast to look at, maybe he was bluffing that this was his top speed and he could go even faster.

If I was going to get rid of those blades, I needed to do something to Jirōbō. If the user was down and out, the power was sure not to work—same thing happened with my powers, so all I had to do was get to him… somehow.

At this distance, I couldn’t touch him and I think he was banking on that, judging by the field of blades spinning in front of him. I had to get closer and somehow, I had to bypass all of his blades to get to him. He was big, but he would go down if I channeled enough anger into Tsubaki and hit vital places.

“Tsubaki.” I called out. He appeared next to me and we watched the blades twirl across the sky while Jirōbō ranted and raved about how good he was at using projectile weapons. Honestly, this guy needed his ass beat so he’d just… shut up. “Got any ideas?”

“…they’re moving rather slow, as compared to what that cat was throwing at us, don’t you think?” Tsubaki comments, “We could try _that_.” I freeze, my skin pricking at his implication.

“That’s too dangerous. We don’t know if it’ll work…” I snap, looking at him, “I can’t do _that_ too far from myself anyway, so I’d have to go up there with you.”

“...You’d be vulnerable to attacks.” Tsubaki crosses his arms, he seems reluctant to put the plan in action now that he knows what I’ll be doing during it. “…We’ll try it once and if it works, then we’re in business.” Jirōbō was almost done with his speech and we were running out of options, if we didn’t act soon, Jirōbō would end up attacking. “And if it really comes down to it, raise the shield, I’ll be fine.”

This really was our only option. Screaming wouldn’t work again, I was sure, but if I got closer, maybe it would work, but right now, I was much too far for the scream to do any real damage. If this didn’t work out, that would be my ticket out.

“Alright,” I finally agree, “Baigon.” The fairy appears next to me and I look at him, “I owe you all something big when we’re out of this. But for now… can you do that thing we practiced?” Baigon nods, becoming formless and wrapping around Tsubaki. “Okay…”

Tsubaki nods and just as soon as Jirōbō has decided he’s had enough talking, we run. It’s not without injury or error, the rooftop is uneven and I need to avoid running into or tripping on the upturned tiles and debris that Jirōbō had thrust his sword into and I still have his blades to worry about.

Now that we’re moving, it’s not easy to dodge them, since they’re homing in on me instead of on Tsubaki. Jirōbō laughs, sneering out an insult.

Only a little while longer, if this works, we’ll be fine. Tsubaki flies over head with Baigon wrapped around him, similar to armor and zips around the blades, ducking and weaving in between them and only getting hit slightly before he turns to light energy, only the trail of petals behind him as he cuts through Jirōbō’s other shoulder.

Blood explodes upwards and outward, splattering all around the area as Jirōbō nearly shrieks out in pain, his control on the blades going haywire for a moment as the blood pours out of his wound. I brace myself, getting cut on my arms and my sides when the blades come straight for me again. Despite his lack of control, his blades seemed to be homing in on me anyway.

Jirōbō isn’t out of the woods either, I hear another yell of pain and see his blades drop. He’d been hit by them more than likely due to a lack of control on his part. I back up, just out of their range and Tsubaki and Baigon are floating next to me.

Jirōbō looks to be trying to go for another round, slowly I see some of his blades stumble, trying to get lift off and get back up into the air.

“Tsubaki. Baigon,” I call their names, “Again.” Tsubaki speeds towards Jirōbō and runs straight through his arm.

Jirōbō screams once again in pain, obviously not expecting Tsubaki to be so ruthless. His arm is nearly severed at the shoulder from this third attack on it and one more should have it completely off. Did I want to do that?

I didn’t have much of a choice at this point, as awful as that sounded. I didn’t know whether I could even pierce through anything in his spiritual body that would result in a loss of power, but him only having one arm would limit things severely, wouldn’t it? Since it looked like his Shikai command needed two arms to be done, having only one would limit him.

Blood pours from Jirōbō’s cuts, sliding down his arm and pooling on the rooftop. One more cut and he wouldn’t have an arm. Sure, I felt bad and I know that later on, I would probably feel awful about it, but right now, it was him or me… and I knew that I had to chose me. “L-Like I said…” I say shakily.

I was losing blood too, now that I had stopped moving. It was pouring steadily down my arm, but it was slow and nothing I couldn’t handle at the moment.

This fight was much better suited to Uryu, who had a plethora of attacks that didn’t require him getting caught up in the crossfire too much. When I did it, I just got a ton of unneeded cuts, they were bleeding, yes, but not as bad as Jirōbō, who looked as if he’d be fainting any moment.

“I like to maim my opponents…” I slur, blinking slowly. I use my good arm to smack my cheek, waking me somewhat. Losing blood was a bad idea, I needed bandaging for these cuts and fast. “Tsubaki.” I call him again. “Cut it off.”

Tsubaki runs straight through Jirōbō again and the man’s scream echoes across the rooftop. He eventually slumps, the pain obviously too much for him and he passes out. I approach, staring at his severed arm. It’s completely limp, but still bleeding, creating a puddle of blood at my feet.

This was... pretty gruesome, but all in all, at least he wasn't dead. And sure, he still had his shinigami powers but... well, whatever happened to him wasn't my problem. I was doing this to help Rukia—and if someone lost an arm in the process—even if it happened to be my own—it would be fine. Jirōbō’s breathing was labored, but he didn’t look as if he’d die.

Most of the cuts he’d sustained—aside from when Tsubaki had cut both his shoulders and then his arm off—were shallow, much like mine, but they hurt like a bitch.

“Mmmm… why am I a good person?” I sigh, calling out Ayame and Shun’o. The two get to work, healing Jirōbō up some. I close up a good portion of his cuts, but I leave his arm unattached—I didn’t want him to try coming after me again and have to repeat this. Plus, it would be a good reminder not to fuck with the Ryoka. “Guys, is there anything I can do to... stop him from trying to come after us? Like, Uryu could have...”

“No,” Shun’o shakes his head, “There isn’t anything that we can do to him. Our powers are based around healing, so if anything, Tsubaki would have to do something.”

“I can’t do anything like sever his soul link.” Tsubaki crosses his arms. “Leave him for now. He’d be stupid to come after us.”

I nod, there really wasn’t much I could do with my limited understanding of the Shinigami soul at this point. I couldn’t accurately pinpoint where to cut off his Shinigami powers without hurting him, so I had to let it go.

I wasn’t trying to kill anyone, but if it came down to it… if it came down to it, would I actually do it? I wasn’t sure and right now wasn’t the time to be debating on what I would and wouldn’t do faced with another life or death situation. I did what I had to here and it just so happened to work out that I didn’t need to kill anyone.

But using that shielding on Tsubaki and that attack—which was a half-baked version of Inoue’s Tsubaki + Shield ability, whose name escaped my mind at the moment—and this fight in general depleted my Reiryoku so much, it was ridiculous.

With Baigon wrapped around Tsubaki, their power doubles in a way. Baigon hits the target first and then Tsubaki hits it right afterwards, using the rejected energy that Baigon has gathered in order to double his own power to make a stronger attack. It’s complicated to explain, but that was the basis of what I was going for. And somehow, it ended up working, which I’m thankful for.

Fighting hollow wasn't this tiring, but these were real, conscious people aware of their powers and actions. Things were bound to be completely different. I had to get used to it.

And I had to leave before I passed out here too. I surveyed Jirōbō for a moment before I climbed over him, untying the sash around his waist—which is hard to do one-armed.

It’s awkward trying to get the knot to undo itself with only one hand, but after a few more minutes of trying, I’m able to do so. I push Reiryoku into my good arm and pull, flopping back onto my butt with a long stretch of cloth in my hand.

This would make for good material to bandage myself. I didn’t know yet if I could manage to make a sling for my arm, but I didn’t want to find out here. I hold out my right arm, grunting as I wrap the cloth around it, to make it easier to carry and leave the rooftop and Jirōbō behind.

* * *

So, the building seems to be intact—the only thing that’s wrong with it is the first floor down from the roof has debris and pieces of the roof in it, but it’s fine as is. I didn’t live here, so I didn’t have to worry about it. What I had to worry about was finding the bathroom and then a uniform to wear so that I could blend in. Plus, my clothes were mostly trashed anyway—and I _liked_ this outfit. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn it.

There’s a bathroom on the fourth floor down from the roof and surprisingly, it’s much, much similar to the public bathrooms back in the human world. There are stalls and toilets and sinks. It’s my saving grace, I guess these people weren’t just advanced in technology, which was great. I grunt, easing myself down onto the toilet and sit there for a moment.

My first breather in hours and I need to take what I can get. I slowly unwrap a good portion of the cloth from my right arm, grunting as I do so. This shit was painful. “Guys…” I murmur. Tsubaki, Shun’o and Ayame make an appearance, the latter two looking over me in worry.

“Hey, y’all.” I greet, holding out the cloth to Tsubaki, “I want to tie this around my hands and arms, can you cut it?” I unravel the rest of the cloth, letting it pool on the floor and shrug off my jacket as best I can. Everything is so slow-going that I have to keep my guard up as much as I can. Right now, I’m not exactly in the best shape, so if someone wanted to come attack me, they could.

Once my jacket is off, I reach down and pick up the cloth and start to wrap what I needed around my left arm, slowly because my right arm is still mostly out of it. The pain is bearable—mostly because I’m starting to numb around my shoulder.

I wrap the cloth tightly, winding it from my upper arm down around my fingers and thumb. I hold out the excess and Tsubaki runs through it, cutting it. Shun’o and Ayame quickly pull it, tightening the bandages and tying them off. “Thanks, guys.” I sniff, using that arm to wipe my nose. Luckily my cuts weren’t bleeding, otherwise I was sure this wouldn’t hold.

“Are we doing y-your other arm, Hoshiko?” Ayame asks. She and Shun’o lift the rest of the cloth.

“Yeah, I guess we can. Can you guys come out too?” Hinagiku, Baigon and Lily appear before me, helping Ayame and Shun’o with the bandage. I lift my arm, biting my lip as I do so.

“Jeez, Hoshiko.” Lily scolds me, “You just love trouble, don’t you? The moment you left that storage room has been nothing but trouble for us. Shield after shield… Tsubaki’s running straight through enemies. We haven’t gotten a break yet, at this point, you’re going to exhaust all of your Reiryoku.”

“’m sorry.” I tell her as they wrap the bandages around my arm. “I’m just trying to get us out of trouble… but I keep finding it.” It probably wouldn’t have been this much trouble with Uryu here, but I had let that go a while back. Uryu wasn’t going to fight my battles for me now, so I had to do it, even if I wasn’t exactly prepared for it. “Hey, at least we won against that guy, right?”

“Just barely. I still say we should’ve done more.” Tsubaki cuts the bandages while Ayame and Shun’o tuck them. I let my arm drop. “He might still come after you—he knows what you look like the clearest out of everyone so far.”

“He’ll be out for a long, long time I think.” I look at the fairies. Compared to me, five out of the six look better than anything. “Ayame, Shun’o, can you heal up Tsubaki?” The two nod and I raise my arms—painful to do, but needed nonetheless.

“No, don’t heal me. Save your energy, dumbass.” Tsubaki grits out, glaring at me. “When you’ve got more energy, I’ll take it.”

“So noble.” Lily sighs out dreamily, “I didn’t know Tsubaki could care so much!”

“Shu--!” I quickly draw the fairies back into my hairpins as I hear something come into the bathroom. Well, at least I got myself bandaged up.

“…don’t even wanna find them.” The first woman says, sighing, “This isn’t good for my skin, these late-night and all-day patrols.”

“But don’t you think it’s fun? I mean, we haven’t run into any of them yet… but there’s the chance of _danger_ ! Those two boys took out two whole platoons!” A second, distinctly chipper voice says. “ _Two_!”

“And that orange-haired one fought Ikkaku-san… and lived to tell the tale.” The first voice says, tiredly. "These Ryoka..."

“I know! He’s one of the ones I’m _not_ looking forward to running into, unless he's cute.” The chipper girl says, “The other is…”

“The Red Hanabi.” The woman finishes, “I can’t believe _four_ platoons are out today because of her. And the couple she'd offed yesterday... How did she _do_ it?” They were talking about me and I couldn’t help but feel a little prideful for that fact.

I was making a name for myself! And… I was making a name for myself. Jesus, I needed to stop. I shift, peering out the crack between the stall. The two girls looked like they didn’t get much action—I could draw that from the woman’s words. Maybe they weren’t that good at hand-to-hand? I wasn’t really in any shape to fight like that, but I couldn’t waste any energy that I didn’t need to.

Especially on weak opponents. And I needed a uniform. So… maybe this could work? The chipper one goes to sit on the counter. How could I get their attention, if I could knock one down, I could corner the other and get them alone. The tired one backs up, almost flush against the door of my stall, checking herself in the mirror. “Do you think Tomoharu-san…” I know what I needed to do.

I press a hand to my hairpin and Tsubaki comes out, ever so quietly. We had to time this right or I could be in trouble. I shoot him a look, somewhat communicating my plan through our mental link with half-formed pictures in my mind. Tsubaki, bless him, nods, seemingly getting the picture of what I wanted to do and leaves my stall. The timing for this had to be perfect.

“Oh, c’mon Usagi!” The chipper one groans, “Tomoharu-san is _so_ oblivious! I’m telling you, you should—what was that?” The chipper one and Usagi turn, looking around. Tsubaki hits the wall of another stall again, and I quickly unlock the latch to the door. “Is this place haunted?”

“Yeah, of course dumbass… by us! We’re _all_ dead here! …Someone else is in here,” Usagi drawls, “Stop playing around, come on out!”

“Okay!” I shout, kicking my foot out and slamming it into the door as hard as I can. The girl screams, it immediately being cut off when I hear something else slam into her and I run out of the stall, heading straight for the chipper girl sitting on the sink.

She looks startled and goes to move, but I beat her to it, pouring reiryoku into my hand and slamming her head into the mirror, hard enough to draw blood and create a small crater of broken mirror shards originating from her head. She groans, slumping over onto the sink. Well, that was one down.

I turn, seeing the other girl look dazed, locked in between the two stall doors. I pull them apart and she looks up at me, confusion and fear clear across her face. “Nothing personal.” I raise my foot, stomping it into her forehead. She hits her head on the stall door and slumps, obviously knocked out.

I grab her, dragging her away from the stall and lay her in the middle of the floor. My arm is still in pain when I use it, but I can’t help it. I undress Usagi and use the chipper blonde haired one as a guide on how to put the uniform one. Once it’s secure, I look back to Usagi. She was pretty much naked, and I felt bad.

I quickly try to dress her in my old clothes and use some of the blond girl’s blood to write ‘ _SORRY_ ’ on the mirror. It looks morbid and awful, but I _did_ want to apologize and I wasn't going to wait until they woke up. I was just doing what I had to. I healed up the blonde, though, so that should count for something, right? The blonde girl has two ponytails, so I take one of her hair ties and pile my hair up into a bun, forgoing my headband braid across the top of my head and pinning my bangs back to how they were before I changed my hairstyle.

After checking myself in the mirror—and I had to make sure I didn’t look _too_ crazy—I left the bathroom. Wearing this would make it so much easier to move around in, plus it would cover my bandages for the most part. I was lucky that I’d managed to avoid getting anything on my face—I didn’t have a black eye or anything that would draw attention to myself.

My thoughts turn back to what Usagi and her friend had said in the bathroom. So, it seemed like Ichigo had beaten Ikkaku and Uryu and Sado had taken care of a couple of platoons of grunt Shinigami. Things were… right on track, it seemed. Now, all I had to do was avoid fighting Mayuri and everything would be alright.

I exit the building, noting that a group was waiting outside. I slowly blend into crowd. “Jus’ leave ‘em behind!” Someone from the front shouts, “Let’s move!” The group of us march down the street until we stop prematurely—with me slamming into someone.

“S-Sorry…” I mumble, looking down.

It’s not too long before a man goes down the line, checking everyone and finally stops at me. He glares at me, sizing me up before he decides to speak. “And who are _you_?” He shouts, spittle flying. I flinch, not wanting to get hit. “I do not recall someone like you being on my platoon… what’s your name?”

“...Usagi.” I say, debating on whether I should use the name. It doesn’t seem like he—or anyone else in the group—recognizes it, so he looks me over once more.

“Usagi, huh?” His voice is brought down to a normal level, “Cute name for a cute girl, huh?”

“Guess that’s what my parents wanted—uh, if I had any. Y’know… since I’m dead and all.” Oh my god, why was I so bad at this? He was going to see right through my lies and call me out.

“Of course…” He puts a hand on his chin, “I’m sure you’ve heard of me, but I’ll introduce myself again. I am Umesada Toshimori, strongest of the fifteen officers sharing the 20th seat position in the 9th division… but you… you can call me _Toshi-san_.”

“Er, right.” I nod, backing up slightly. This guy was getting way too close and I liked my personal space... most of the time.

“You know… maybe you should come march up front with me.” Umesada offers his arm to me, looking me up and down with a lustful greed that makes me finally realize what he’s after. “And maybe afterwards… you can come to my room?” He wags his eyebrows. Oh yeah, _no_. This was not happening.

“Oh, I get it.” I say aloud, “But, no, thanks.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion, darling.” He places an arm on my shoulder. Luckily it happens to be my working shoulder, but I know I’m displaying a look of disgust by the way the boy next to me snickers.

“No, no.” I wave my hands, pushing him off of me. I knew I shouldn’t be making trouble, lest I blow my cover, but I wasn’t having this. “Hun, hun, please. If you wanna take a crack at this rabbit, you’ve gotta give her some lettuce.”

“Wh-What?” Umesada seems to turn red at my words.

“I’m saying… that I don’t come cheap. I’m a classy broad.” I explain, looking him up and down, “If you can’t handle it, why don’t you just hop on back up front before you really start hopping?” I flare my Reiryoku slightly and he backs away.

“Th-That’s…” He stutters, laughing out nervously. “Y-You’re getting written up! Trying to tempt an officer of the law!”

“We’re all officers of the law here, aren’t we?” I question, “And you were the one trying to get with _me_ —if anything, I should have _you_ written up for sexual harassment.”

Umesada sputters once more. “Y-You’re discharged from my platoon!” He bellows. "G-Go report to your superior officer!"

“Good!” I shout back, “I didn’t wanna be spit on every time you raise your voice anyway!” Umesada looks… so embarrassed as the others snicker at our exchange but ultimately, he turns back and barks out order to his platoon to move out, leaving me behind.

“Wish it was that easy for me to leave…” The boy who was standing next to me says. “I’m sure you can find another platoon… or find somewhere to hang out.”

“Storage rooms are always free. Nobody checks them.” I inform him. His eyes go wide and he nods, turning to go back to catch up with his platoon. “Hey, can you point me in the direction of somewhere to eat?”

I knew that I shouldn’t be thinking about it, but I really needed some food if I was going to keep burning through Reiryoku and energy like this. “Yeah, Fourth and Seventh barracks are the hub for food right now.” I remember that Jirōbō said he was from the Seventh and since I wasn’t sure if somebody had gotten him by now, I had to be careful.

I blankly stare at the boy in front of me and he chuckles, shaking his head. “We’re close by the fourth division, so I can take you there.”

“Oh! Thanks, um…?”

“Akihiro.” He introduces himself with a flourish. “Sticking with you might be better than going off with Umesada.” Akihiro and I walk down the road, taking a different turn than the one I saw Umesada’s platoon take.

We walk in silence and I can tell it’s too much for Akihiro to take. “So,” I start, looking over at him, “What, uh, what division are you in?”

“Eighth division.” Akihiro answers shortly, “I was only put on Umesada’s—who is in the ninth division—platoon because a lot of us grunts are being taken care of quickly, so there aren't many to go around. Ah…” Akihiro runs a hand through his short, brown hair, “I really hope I don’t run into that monster man with the arm… or that guy he’s with—the Quincy.”

“I’ve heard about them.” I say, “They’re pretty awful, huh?”

“Yes! All the Ryoka are.” Akihiro shudders, “My friend—Machi—was in one of the platoons taken down by the _Red Hana_ _bi_ and… he said it was weird, that girl’s powers are a mystery. All he said is that he remembered them running after her, then she turned and suddenly… they were all down and out. Something about flowers. Scary…”

Okay, I wasn’t that bad! C’mon! I mean, sure, I had Tsubaki strike somewhat vital areas—like their legs to make them fall and then I bumped them with my shield… and that one time with the third platoon where I used my scream and Tsubaki and there was that… bombing effect from yesterday and the last platoon, but I wasn’t that bad! Sado could literally flick you across the room and break four bones.

I was the least of their worries.

The rest of our walk was short—we really were close to the fourth division barracks and Akihiro led me down the hall towards a loud mess hall, filled with people eating, laughing and carrying on. The smell of food wafted through the air and I couldn’t help but groan in pleasure.

But I couldn’t let my guard down now. Someone could recognize me—I didn’t hurt anyone too badly, just enough to knock them down and out for a moment. Some of the people in here could recognize me. I was short, so I stayed close and low next to Akihiro, shielding myself from most of the crowd, though nobody had even looked up at our arrival.

“Haha, you act like you haven’t eaten in days, Usagi-san!” Akihiro chuckles.

“Feels like it, honestly…” I mutter. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast yesterday and now that I had time to think about food, I was really hungry. I follow Akihiro up to the kitchen area and note that it’s buffet-style, meaning I could get as much as I wanted.

Akihiro hands me a tray. “I’m going to get us a table.” Akihiro points towards the cafeteria and I nod. He leaves me alone while I go around, looking at the food.

I take one of everything. I’m so hungry and I know that I’ll be able to finish it all. My tray is piled high when I find the table that Akihiro is sitting at with another girl and a boy. I sit down and they stare at the mountain of food I have. “Hello, I’m Usagi.” I make sure to establish, so that if they call me by the name, I know they’re talking to me.

“Hi, Usagi-san.” The two greet, still staring in disbelief at the food I have. “I’m Haruna and this is Shin.” I nod at the two.

“You’re not… eating all of that, are you?” Akihiro asks to my left and I nod.

“Of course. I told you I was starving. Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just going to eat, continue your conversation.” I pick up the chopsticks, grunting as I break them apart. “Itadakimasu!” I cheer, shoveling rice into my mouth.

“W-Well, anyway…” Akihiro tries to go back to the conversation, but the three continue to watch me tear through the food on my plate. When I’m halfway through, I grab my cup of water, downing it in one go and hold it out to Akihiro.

“Can you get me another, please?” I smile sweetly at him, pretty sure that there’s food stuck in my teeth. Akihiro nods, standing up with the cup and I take a breather as I wait for my water.

“So… what division are you guys in?” I ask, looking them over. I had to figure out what division everyone was in before I went and made a decision about which one I belong to.

“Same as Akihiro—we’re in the eighth.” Haruna answers, looking me over. “You must be from the eleventh—they pride themselves on eating… like that.”

I shrug. I guess it was fine to roll with it. “Yeah,” I burp, covering my mouth. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s fine.” Haruna smiles tensely as Akihiro returns to the table with two cups of water. He places them both down beside me. I nod in thanks and drink down one. “So, Akihiro was telling us… you really stood up to Umesada?”

“Er, yeah. He was trying to hit on me and I wasn’t having it.” I shook my head, “So I had to put him in his place. Easy enough.”

“But we’re… just grunts!” Shin looked horrified. I hadn’t even said anything that scathing, I just refused his nasty advances.

I shrug, “So what? If someone is acting like a nasty asshole, then I’m not going to stand for it.”

“The power of the eleventh division…” Haruna stares at me in awe. “You’re so cool, Usagi-san!”

“Heh, I try my best.” I smirk. I couldn’t buy into this praise, though. I had to finish eating and somehow get away from Akihiro and his friends so that I could keep looking for Rukia. “Hey, so I’m new here… where is, uh… the prisoner they’re trying to rescue being held?”

“Ah, you wanna go have a look?” Akihiro guesses. I nod and he smiles, “Most do, yeah. She’s being held up in the Senzaikyū. It’s a big, white tower located towards the north, connected to The Hill. Can’t miss it.”

I nod, taking in this information. Now that I had this uniform, it was no doubt much easier for me to walk around without raising suspicion to myself. I turn back to my food, picking up my chopsticks and diving in again. Now that I was slowly getting my energy back with eating, I could think about a few things.

We’d been here for two days—almost three since it was getting darker now. Tomorrow I would have to make my way towards the Senzaikyū and see if I can get in. I know that it basically took Reiryoku from a person, rendering them unable to escape, so if I ever got there, I’d have to plan accordingly. I finish off the rest of my food and burp loudly, covering my mouth at the end. “Yikes, sorry guys.” I chuckle quietly.

“You’re the politest of all the eleventh squad members we’ve dealt with.” Shin comments, “So, Usagi-san… what are you doing now?”

“Well, I’m don’t think I’m on night duty, so I’mma go get some sleep.” I tell him, shrugging. I was only half way to replenishing my Reiryoku—eating was the first step, I still needed to sleep and see if some of my injuries would heal up a bit while I slept.

“Ah… well,” Shin and Haruna stand, “We’ll be going, we, sadly, do have night duty.”

“It was nice meeting you, Usagi-san!” Haruna said, “I hope we get the chance to talk again.”

“Same.” I reply, standing as well. “It was nice meeting you both.” I grab the empty tray and put the cups on top. Haruna and Shin excuse themselves and leave the mess hall. Akihiro follows me over to where you dump the trays and I turn to him. “So, what are you planning on doing?”

“Probably gonna head back to my room.” Akihiro rubs the back of his head. “I don’t have night duty either.”

“Ah, okay.” I nod, “Well, I’m gonna go find the bathroom and then head off. It was nice meeting you, and thanks for your help.” I tell him. Akihiro says his goodbyes to me and leaves first. I leave after him, heading for the bathroom.

The bathroom was the only place I could do some real thinking. For now, I needed to actually find somewhere to sleep, and this was the fourth division—everything here was used, unlike in the other divisions. I would be caught and questioned if I just went to sleep anywhere like a storage room around here.

But where could I go? They didn’t have any damn maps around here, did they? It was getting late, yeah, but it didn’t look like I was going to find anywhere to sleep yet, so I had to stay on the move. I sighed, exiting the bathroom.

I guess since I couldn’t sleep, I’d just need to find somewhere to be—maybe a platoon that was patrolling near the Senzaikyū. I swing back by the cafeteria, wrapping up some food in the rest of the excess cloth that I had from Jirōbō’s sash and leave, intent on finding my way towards the Senzaikyū.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has hoshiko been doing too much or too little? I dunno, but she's been doing something. Won't someone come save her? Because she's about to get into an even worse mess
> 
> Completely unrelated, but I'll be at AnimeNYC !!! I dunno if any of y'all live in this area, but I'll be going to that next weekend, so update came a little earlier.


	23. Soul Society: The Rescue Arc: Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gin brushes by me and disappears in a flash. “...Hachidori.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High Key Pain Alert ahead. (Seriously guys, Idk there's some gruesome descriptions in there)

 In the end, after I left the fourth division barracks and made my way out into the streets, I could not see the Senzaikyū too well, but that was probably because it was getting dark. The platoons of grunt Shinigami were slowing down as well. As I walked, there was only a couple of them at a time passing around, and the big thing that was in everybody’s mouth was Ichigo’s fight with Renji. All the platoons I joined for the moment were talking about it.

Everybody knew—it was ridiculous how _fast_ news traveled in such a large place. According to some of the accounts I’d heard, it had only been maybe a couple of hours since they fought and Renji ended up in a critical state and was currently being taken care of in the fourth division.

There were multiple accounts of what was going on with that too—some said Ichigo practically maimed Renji and others were saying it was the other way around, but all in all, someone got fucked up in the fight. One couldn’t be too sure of the real story, and my memories of the way it actually went were all but shot to shit. That left me with believing the stories and trying to piece together my own. I continued walking, how long had we been here?

It was a question I was trying to work out in my mind now that I was out of the crossfire. Though Yoruichi hadn’t mentioned it when we were altogether, it was crazy to learn that we’d travelled back in time to August 1st again—I’d found that out when I was walking around with Uryu the first day we arrived when we’d passed by a pachinko place.

The next day, we went to Kūkaku’s and the day after that we arrived here… so that was three days down. Today was the fourth day and tomorrow was going to be the fifth. That meant Rukia’s execution, if I remembered correctly was going to be on the 6th.

We didn’t have much time and there was also something I was forgetting—Aizen was going to fake his death… tomorrow, I think. And we would be under an actual state of war until they found out he was a lying scumbag.

“Oh, just what I needed…” I run a hand through my hair, frowning. Once somebody figured out who _I_ was, I would be targeted even more. For now, I was safe, since nobody seemed to have a good description of me, so I could easily blend in with the Shinigami and not draw attention to myself.

The night passed slowly and uneventfully. I ate some of the food I’d taken with me from the Fourth Division and wandered around aimlessly. Even though I was now in disguise, it still wasn’t easy to avoid doing work. I needed to find my way towards the Senzaikyū and I couldn’t ask anyone, because that would draw attention to myself—they’d want to know why I was there and why I didn’t know where it was and… it would all end with me slamming someone into a wall. And I didn’t wanna do that again, I felt bad about doing it to Usagi and that blonde chick yesterday.

I knew that today, Aizen would fake his own death, setting off a chain reaction leading up to Rukia’s attempted execution. As I walked, the sun came into view and I’d realized I hadn’t slept at all. I needed some time to rest, it would help my cuts heal if I wasn’t moving around so much, but where could I go at this point?

“You should be on the lookout.” I heard someone say. I stopped walking, turning to see someone standing behind me. I quickly hid behind a wall, peeking out to see them. “I just got some news—The Red Hanabi injured some girls in the bathroom and stole one of their uniforms sometime yesterday. That damned Ryoka is going around acting like one of us.”

“Ah, really?” The other said back, “These Ryoka are a lot more dangerous than I thought… hope I don’t run into them… Especially after what happened to Ikkanzaka.”

“Yeah, tough brand of brats, aren’t they? The orange-haired Ryoka Shinigami took down Ikkaku of the eleventh and Lieutenant Abarai. The two boys are taking down platoons left and right…”

Everyone else seemed to be doing fine, at this point, but now that they knew that I was impersonating a Shinigami, that meant I had to be more careful—so far, I’d barely seen anybody with my brand of red hair, so I had to be a _lot_ more careful about where I was going. I couldn’t just be out and about like I was yesterday and for most of the morning. It was about early afternoon—maybe around one or two, and I’d found myself a nice place to rest—another storage room when I called out the fairies.

A loud expulsion of reiatsu stops us all in our tracks. “That’s... Kurosaki.” I breathe out. He was alive and... he was fighting someone really strong. Was it Byakuya? Or Kenpachi? Things on his end were fuzzy in my mind, all I knew was that he’d faced off against Ikkaku and Renji already, and today had to be the day something was going to go down.

“So, what’s the plan?” Tsubaki sat on one of the crates, getting my attention back on him. “…it doesn’t look like you have one.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” I admit, “I’m at a complete loss for what to do next. At this point, I haven’t seen or fought Mayuri yet, and that’s what I’m trying to avoid. But, that was Kurosaki’s reiatsu, I’m more than sure.”

“We can’t stay here, though.” Lily crosses her arms, looking down in thought, “Someone might come—we need to keep moving.”

“It’ll get dark soon and we still need to find our way to the tower.” Shun’o added, “If we run into this Mayuri person, we’ll just have to run, hopefully he does not give chase to us. Maybe there will be a strong enough trail of Kurosaki-kun’s reiatsu for us to follow and find him.”

“Hopefully…” I repeat quietly. This is the biggest fight that I was going to witness—and Uryu wasn’t here to fight Mayuri, so if it came down to it, I needed to run and make sure I wasn’t followed. I didn’t know what came after Uryu’s fight with Mayuri, so getting past that would be my best chance at survival. The fairies return to the hairpins shortly after that and I move to leave the storage room, only... someone enters.

“Oh?” That voice that I’ll never forget seems to just grin and gleam through the darkness. I freeze, my blood feeling as if it’s running cold at the sound. “Don’t look so shaken now, Red Hanabi-chan!”

Gin Ichimaru approaches me at a slow pace, something akin to a fox trying to catch it’s prey. And I’m caught, wide-eyed at the back of the storage room, looking for a way out. This didn’t happen, I wasn’t supposed to meet _him_ of all people. We weren’t supposed to have any dialogue at all! Why was this happening?

I don’t even know what Gin was supposed to be doing at this time, but somehow he managed to be here, even though I knew he shouldn’t. “I been lookin’ all over fer ya. Ya think it wouldn’t b’ hard t’ find a girl wit red hair, but it really is.”

“Wh...” The words die in my throat as I try to get over my fear. Gin hasn’t used his reiatsu to hold me in place, but just being in his presence has me near paralyzed.

“Don’t be so scary now, dear. Y’look like y’ dun seent a ghostie er somethin’.” Gin grins wildly at me. “Oh! Haha, technically we’s all ghosts ‘round these parts. I take it you remember me well! Ah, that makes m’ so happy!”

“How could I forget you, Foxface?” I sneer out, glaring despite the shaking of my entire body.

Gin has the audacity to look offended at my words, placing a hand upon his chest. “Oh, that’s _rude_! My name’s Gin, yanno? Ichi-Maru Gin! Thass easy t’ remember, ya think?”

“What do you want? Why are you here?” I drop into a weird looking battle stance while Gin doesn’t even seem to move, if anything, he just looks amused.

“Chill out, Fire Bird.” Gin waves his arms. “I was just wantin’ t’ ask ya somethin’. ‘Sides, if’n I really wanted t’, I coulda killt ya back af’er ya finished off dat guy from whassit? Seventh division? Oh? Yer face tells me ya didn’t even sense me bein’ ‘round you then. S’ okey. I been told many a time ‘m like a li’l snake ‘er somethin’ even da best can’t sense me sometimes.”

He’d been watching me since then? But... I was so careful. Then again, it could be true, I was sort of out of it. My arm still hurt like crazy despite it being a little more numb with each passing minute. I don’t say anything, only study Gin.

What was his purpose for coming here to find me? It wasn’t like I was the strongest in the group. Was he just looking to kill someone? Lure them into a false sense of hope and just off me under the pretense that he was doing his duty as a captain of the Gotei 13?

Why was all this new stuff happening to me now?

Gin breaks me out of my thoughts, “Yer a funny one, kiddo. An’ yer lucky too. I did ya a li’l kindness t’ make thing a li’l easier for us.”

“Kindness?” I question, stepping back once more, “What do you mean?”

“Ya left him all near death an’ he coulda identified ya or gotten someone t’ come after ya, I merely... finished th’ job for ya.”

“F-Finished the job...?” I narrow my eyes, “You didn’t... _kill_ him, did you?”

“Aw, y’ make me out t’ seem like a whole bad guy ‘r sumthin’.” Gin pouts, crossing his arms, “Alls I did was pierce his soul chain an’ soul sleep. Boy-o ain’t no shinigami no more. Can’t come after y’. But th’n again, th’ guy  couldn’ even do ‘is li’l Shikai anymore? He the type t’ need two hands t’ do anythin’.”

“I... why? Why did you do that?” I grunt. “S-Speak now! Or I’ll kick your ass! Tell me what you want and why you’re here, seeking out your enemy! An-And why you decided to help me out!”

“I’d like t’ see ya try girly. Thatta be a interestin’ fight, yanno.” Gin chuckles, “But I’ll speak up if’n it’ll make ya feel better.” Gin’s eyes open a fraction and he stares at me intently, “We don’t have t’ be enemies, yanno. We can b’ friens who do each other kindnesses.”

“Wh-What are you getting at?” I take another step back, pressing my hand against the hairpins.

“I’m jus’ sayin... I been realizin’ a lot of things lately. An... as much as I’mma fan of doin’ things by m’self, don’t think I can do this by m’self.” The look on Gin’s face is somewhat far off, a sad realization that he’s come across as he turns back to stare at me.

His gaze is heavy, weighted with things that I don’t even know, and he looks so... pleading. So sad.

“What is it that you’re getting at? If this is a trap...” I can feel Tsubaki spark underneath my fingertips, “I’ll do way more than just scratch your cheek this time.”

“It’s not.” Gin’s voice is devoid of humor, “Trust me.”

“That’s hard to do, all things considered.” I sneer. “I don’t even think you actually took care of that man back there.”

Gin sighs, running a hand through his hair. I can see that he’s getting impatient, but I can’t let up. “Belie’me or not, but it’s da truth.” He’s my enemy and soon to be enemy of the entirety of the Gotei 13, so why would I ever just listen to him speak without skepticism. “Things... things ‘r gonna go down a’ the execution inna couple days, an’ I want ya t’ stop it. I wanna say more but I can’t.”

“No shit, dumbass.” I roll my eyes, “Why do you think we’re here? To ensure that it happens? This job would be ten times easier if I knew where the fuck I was going.”

“Well, y’all need t’ move a li’l faster. Like ah said, can’t tell ya everythin’ but y’all need t’ get a move on t’ stop that execution. Someone... who shouldn’t have a great power might obtain it and it’s in alla our best interest for ‘im not t’ get it, ya understand?”

Gin’s words are vague and I can only assume that this is his roundabout way of asking me for help. “But... why did you pick me?” I then decide to ask. It didn’t make any sense. “Why don’t you go to your people and talk to them?”

“B’cuz nobody’d listen.” Gin shrugs, “An’ y’all’re outsiders. This one time, our purposes seem to align an’ I says ‘hey, make the best of it.’ To protect those dear to me, I ask you for this. Stop the execution at all costs.”

“That’s the plan. But I don’t understand why you’re coming to me with this.” I repeat. “There’s the others, like I said, you could easily--”

“Yer da only one who c’n help, yanno. An’ I know you know what I mean. If’n things don’t work out... well, we’ll be in touch a lot soon than I wanna be.” Gin brushes by me and disappears in a flash. “...Hachidori.”

* * *

After my encounter with Gin that didn’t make much to any sense, I wandered around until it was about nighttime. I couldn’t understand it, why did Gin approach me? And why was he so vague? If I didn’t know what I already knew, I was sure I’d be super confused. And even though I do know, I still can’t understand why he came to me for help? From what I remember about his character, Gin wasn’t the type to ask for help or even want anything like that.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I had an inkling that Gin knew that there was... _more_ to me than there was to everyone else. But, the question was, how did he know? And how long had he really been watching me.

The pleading look in his eyes made me feel bad for him, but I still don’t understand. Why did everything have to become so messy when I suddenly entered the canon. This also brought up the question of how much Gin knew and what was ‘stopping the execution’ to him anyway? Stopping it for us would mean saving Rukia and regardless, if Aizen were to take the Hogyoku out of Rukia, we would still save her regardless.

So, did Gin want us to stop Aizen in that moment as well? There was no way that was going to happen. Aizen was a captain, and he was very strong, able to stop Komamura’s attacks with just a hand and take on anyone else without batting an eye.

What did Gin really expect us to be able to do? Well, there was no use dwelling, we would find out what his version of ‘stop the execution’ really meant in due time.

I take off down the path, glad to see that it’s mostly empty, surprised that nobody has tried to stop me. Thinking about Gin over the course of these couple of hours and trying to make sense of his vagueness had me occupied, I almost forgot about my purpose.

Avoiding Mayuri at all costs.

Mayuri could be lurking anywhere and I don’t need that. “H-Hey! You!” Someone calls. I skid to a halt, freezing in place. I don’t turn yet, “Yeah! You!”

Slowly, I turn to face a rather gross-looking me. “U-Uh… yeah?”

“Wait a minute… lemme… lemme look.” He slurs. I don’t readily recognize him, but he sounds drunk and wobbles over towards me slowly. I grunt, I don’t have time for this but running now would only make him suspicious of me. I hold my ground, he doesn’t look too strong at the moment, so I could probably overpower him and run if I needed to.

The man comes swaying over to me and stops in front of me. I was right—he had been drinking. The man reeks of alcohol and there’s a dark red blush staining his cheeks. “Wh… What are you doing in this area? Don’t you know it’s… off limits?”

“Oh, I didn’t.” I try to laugh nervously, “Well, I’ll just—“

“What squad are you with anyway?” He leans forward, looking me over.

“S-Squad Eleven.” I tell him, only to realize that this is has a strange sense of deja vu written all over it. The words are out of my mouth before I have time to take them back and he looks surprised.

“Hm, well… I’m with that squad too.” He says, “Though… I didn’t know we had some dumbasses like you… walkin’ around with no Zanpakutō…”

Shit, I knew this would eventually happen. And I still couldn’t avoid it! What was the point of knowing future events and not being able to avoid them? I had to get out of here. But how? He blocked off one of my escape paths and before I can move, he grabs me, checking the inside collar.

“Oh-ho… Squad Twelve!” He pushes me back, glaring, “Yer… yer a liar. You didn’t even think to check inside the collar… yer one ‘o dem Ryoka… aren’t you?”

Shit, this was not working out in my favor—I guess all my good luck had ran out. I had to be prepared—if push came to shove, I’d need to fight Mayuri if I couldn’t escape. And that was something I really did not want to do. The man rears up on me, about to attack and I place a hand to my hairpins, though someone beats me to attacking him. He falls right where he stands and four men stand behind him.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?” One of them says. “I can’t believe this guy… doubting one of his comrades like that.” He shakes his head, “People like that, worse than scum.”

“Not to mention, he’s drunk off his ass!” Another says. Three of the four stare down at the man while the fourth stares at me. There’s something in his eyes that makes me hesitate, but I approach him nonetheless, bowing slightly.

“Th-Thanks for helping me.” I tell him. I had to get out of here before I drew any more attention to myself.

“Stop,” The man says bashfully, “It’s the least we could do for fellow squad members.”

“And these guys are always looking for reasons to bully someone!” Another says, glaring at the man on the ground. “Forgetting your Zanpakutō while in a rush is no big deal, I do it a lot more than I should, ha-ha!”

There’s something… _off_ about this situation, but I can’t place my finger. With this man out of the way, I was probably better off going with these guys for the time being. “C’mon, we’ll walk you back to the barracks so you can get your Zanpakutō.” There was something up about this. It didn’t make sense… if they heard what he said—about how I didn’t know what division I was from… shouldn’t they be more suspicious?

But right now, I couldn’t do anything—there were four of them and one of me… and my arm was almost completely numb at this point, rendering it basically out of use. If they were leading me into a trap, now would be the time to do it. I had to get away from them before we reached the barracks or else I was in big trouble. Trap. Trap. _Trap_.

Shit, this was a trap.

They were members of the twelfth division and that was… _Mayuri’s_ division. My eyes widened as I knew what was going to happen next. I grunt, slamming into one of them and pushing him out of the way. I jump away, just as a large explosion went off right where I’d been standing.

“S-Sant _en_!” I choke out loudly, the shield forming before I can even finish the incantation. It forms in front of me and the knocked-out man, deflecting the body parts that flew out of the explosion and splattering with blood. The shield is cracked, but I don’t put it down yet, I can’t.

Fear has made itself known in my body, but I can’t do anything yet.

“Captain!” One of them screamed so loudly, it echoed off the walls, making the area seem so much bigger and so much smaller all at once.

_There was nowhere to run._

“Thi-This isn’t what you said! You said we just had to _talk_ to her! _What are you doing_?” The male screamed again. The man screamed bloody murder at his captain, while I could hear Mayuri’s calm voice carry over to where I stood.

“Oh, no no.” He clicked his tongue, “Once the bombs are released, they aren’t supposed to return. Nothing personal, just business.” Another scream tore through the air as another explosion went up and they were all dead. I stumbled backwards, falling onto my butt and I could feel tears sliding down my face.

I just witnessed _death_ . Cold, calculating, unfeeling _death_ . Those men were _dead_ —and they weren’t coming back. Mayuri killed them with no remorse. There wasn’t even enough left behind of them to heal. They were dead and I couldn’t do anything about it. My shield cracked completely under my emotion and I looked up, staring Mayuri in the eyes.

His eyes were devoid of any emotion. Cold, unwavering. And they watched me. A glint of curiosity—and not the good kind—flashed across them, and went back to being cold. He was thinking. Thinking of ways to deal with me. He was experimenting in his mind before actually going through with his plans.

“Oh…” He sounds delighted, as if we hadn’t seen each other in a while and not like he hadn’t just killed four men. “That technique—your shield… I’ve never seen anything like that before. How interesting…” He steps forward slightly and I back up, bumping into the man behind me.

“I’ll make you an offer, girl. There’s something I might be able to learn from that.” He begins, “How about you come work for me… as a research subject?” I don’t answer him immediately, so he continues, “You needn’t worry about anything. I take good, _good_ care of my subjects, you know. I’m always _very_ gentle with the ladies, as well. What do you say?”

The man behind me sits up and I look back at him as Mayuri continues to speak. I turn, glaring at him. I had to get away, we needed to get away somehow. “No! I refuse!” I stand up, “You’re… a sick bastard! Offing your own subordinates like that? You really think I’d come willingly and be your fuckin’ subject like that?”

“Hmph,” Mayuri doesn’t seem too put off by my refusal and clenches his fist, “You shouldn’t have refused my offer, girl. I could kill you right here and just experiment on your dead body, you know. But I’d much rather a live experiment. Power stays fresh like that.”

At my state now, there was no way that I would be able to fight and win—but at this point, I had no options. He was a captain and… I was… I was just a Ryoka, less than that, I was just a human caught up in things way over her head.

I was like an ant to him. I felt like I was being dipped in an ice bath. His reiatsu rained down over me, making me shake in fear. I had never felt something so… so _menacing_ in my entire life. So dark… and deep and black and negative—clawing at me and holding me. Pushing me down. It was so intense and if I wasn’t already on my knees, I was sure I would be.

Just _being_ in his presence made me want to give up. It made it seem like it was the only thing I could do in this situation. His reiatsu was so… so _cold_. It was so suffocating, I was having trouble breathing, panting so heavily I knew it was a matter of time before I started to hyperventilate. So unfeeling that I… I knew sticking around would make death eminent for anyone, but I couldn’t leave, even if I was scared.

Tears fell down my cheeks more freely out of fear and I was powerless to stop them. I was so weak, and small and helpless. What could I do? I couldn’t leave, like I said, I was… stuck. I couldn’t leave not because I didn’t want to, but because his reiatsu held me in place.

Ichigo and the others wouldn’t do that, I had to fight—even if it was just for avenging some guys who helped me out for a minute. Still, Mayuri needed to be put in his place and since no-one else was around to do it… I had to. “Listen up,” I say, more to the man behind me than to Mayuri, surprised at how much voice didn’t manage to shake so badly. “You should get out of here.”

“Y-You’re crazy if you think you’re gonna fight that whack-job!” The man, who has woken up somewhere between my shield breaking and Mayuri offering his ‘proposition’ to me, nearly shouts. “W-We should run! I owe you at least that much for saving me.”

“I have to fight him… He could catch me if I run, I need to... t-to hold my ground here.” I solemnly reply, not taking my gaze off of Mayuri. He was unpredictable, I had to watch him to see what he would do. “If you’re not going to help, you need to leave.”

“Making light of your situation?” Mayuri calls, “How... human of you. Do you _really_ think you can beat me? I’ll say, your power _is_ rather interesting, but it does not seem like you have enough power to even hold a _candle_ to me. Not now.”

If his reiatsu was scary before, now it was completely terrifying. I barely register the man getting up and leaving, only his footsteps echoing as I fight to stay standing in the presence of Mayuri’s reiatsu. There was no way I could fight… I couldn’t do this… I should have run when I had the chance. I was going to die here.

Everything was slow. Almost like I was watching things happen from somewhere else. Mayuri hadn’t moved, but I knew I was finished. How could I have thought I could do this? How could I have forgotten what led up to this moment? I was so useless… everything was fine, back when I was facing off against grunts but this was a _captain_. And in my opinion, this was the worst captain to go against.

Mayuri wasn’t too good at actual combat, I think, so he played mind games and took a person apart with poisons and hallucinogens. That was much worse than getting punched through a wall. I wasn’t Sado… I wasn’t Uryu and I damn sure wasn’t Ichigo—there was no way I could beat a captain, even at full strength.

And I was nowhere near my full strength either.

This was… just the gap between where our powers. I was so focused on not being left behind and yet… I knew that I was being left behind. It burned and hurt and insecurities gnawed at my mind.

_You aren’t strong enough._

The words whispered into my mind were right, but I had already made a decision. If here was where I died… then so be it. I would die here and Mayuri would use my body to experiment on. I breathed out, my breath coming fast and quick. I was hyperventilating, but I couldn’t help it.

The realness of my situation was hitting me and I could feel a fresh set of tears leak out of my eyes in rapid succession. There was _nothing_ I could do.

_You will die._

Everyone back home… I’m sorry. I was going to die here and there was nothing I could do about it. A sharp pain in my arm cuts through my thoughts and I’m free from the spell that Mayuri’s reiatsu had me in, but it’s not a pain from Tsubaki hitting me. “Very good, Nemu.” Mayuri grins. I sway, my vision distorting—becoming smaller and smaller like tunnel vision and drop to my knees again.

I hear Mayuri chuckle from in front of me, but he sounds so… so far away. Like he’s speaking through glass three rooms away from me. The world sways and becomes two and… it’s hard to describe. There’s light and dark mixing together and I feel weird. Everything I’ve eaten comes rushing back up and spews itself onto the ground below me, splashing at my uniform, but I can barely see it. I feel hot and cold all at the same time. I'm shaking.

“Wh-What…?” I feel like I’m shouting, but everything is too quiet and too loud.

“What is going on?” I hope he can hear me—this doesn’t feel right. Nothing feels right. I’m so vulnerable right now, it’s not even funny.

I’m so tired.

“Don’t worry…” Mayuri’s voice is anything but soothing. It feels l “This is only one of my more poisonous hallucinogens—you should feel lucky, this is one of my better ones. It works differently than most of the ones I usually make… While I operate, you won’t feel any pain…” I can hear his footsteps approaching loudly and the girl—Nemu—holds me down. “Which is good, a happy patient is a willing patient and a willing patient is one that I prefer.”

I scream, kicking out my legs. I know they’re kicking—I haven’t lost feeling in them yet. Nemu only pins me harder, pressing me into the ground, in the puddle of my own vomit. I choke on air and feart, but don’t stop screaming. It’s a strangled sound, almost like dying, but it’s the only thing keeping me from sinking too far into the hallucination. “Nemu! Don’t hurt her, I need her in good condition!”

Nemu eases up slightly and I can vaguely see Mayuri approach with a scalpel in hand. He towers over me, like a bad omen and looks all the more scarier—like a true death god in his white and black, with his menacing grin, showing all of his white teeth. He’s the picture of the perfect predator—the type that sits and waits, allowing you to attack it and lose yourself before coming in after you.

It’s scary and if I hadn’t thrown up, I’d have done it again. I choke, hacking and coughing and Nemu lets me up for a second, turning me on my side to allow the bile and whatever else that hadn’t made its way up the first time come out.

“Oh,” He sighs, “How I _hate_ operating out in the open… and on a dirty patient, no less… but if I don’t do it now… the hallucinogen will where off and its true effects will take you… and you’ll die, more than that, I don’t want any other captains interrupting. You’re already vomiting, so I have to be quick about this.”

I’m scared—no horrified—no _terrified_. I’m everything under the sun that is quaking in fear as Nemu flips over my body, still pinning me down, this time by the shoulders and Mayuri leans down, trying to cut me.

“Let’s start with the arms… since you used them to focus the shield…” I thrash about and Mayuri lets out a grunt of alarm, slicing my left arm open from the crevice of my elbow to about half way down. “You’re making this harder for yourself.”

I scream. I scream like there’s no tomorrow and Mayuri flies away, obviously caught off guard by the devastating quality of my scream. Nemu stays pinned and there’s blood on my face—more than likely from my scream. My vision, still blurry, but I manage to see Nemu’s ears are bleeding and she’s trying to clutch her side. Was Tsubaki out? Did he cut her?

“Nemu, knock her out!” Mayuri orders, but I thrash once more, screaming louder than before and it’s enough to knock Nemu away. I sit up hurriedly, surprised that my body is working and Mayuri backs away, a mixture of shock and surprise written across his face. The pain in both my arms is numb now, and I try to move my left arm. It barely works, since it’s been sliced open and I can feel the blood leaving my arm in rivets. How am I still alive?

I can still feel tears falling down my face, but I can’t stop them. Right now, I needed to get away, but I couldn’t move too much. At least I was awake. “Who… How are you still moving?” I can’t answer the question—I don’t know how I’m still moving, but it’s happening and I need the momentum. I scream again, directing it at Mayuri.

“Tsubaki!” I howl. Tsubaki appears, heading straight for Mayuri and runs right through his eye. Mayuri grunts, clutching his eye. I look around through my tunnel vision. Walls are destroyed and Nemu lies up against one of them, somewhat unconscious. “ _Tsubaki_!” I scream again. Tsubaki slices through Nemu again, cutting her across the stomach and arms, then circles around, slicing through the broken wall, making it fall on top of Nemu—I don’t know if it’s worked, but I don’t want to stick around to find out.

“Insolent girl!” Mayuri yells, hand leaving his eye. There’s a large cut and his eye socket is empty. Blood pours out of his empty eye socket and from the cut on the side of his face. He wipes it away as if it was nothing, but a fresh wave of blood pours out as if it hadn’t been wiped.

“Hmph, you’re a lot more to deal with than I thought… no matter.” He drops the bloody scalpel and grabs his Zanpakutō. “ _Rip_! Ashisogi Jizō!” Mayuri’s Zanpakutō transformed into a golden, but odd-looking trident.

I sway backwards, trying to get out of his range but Mayuri simply walks towards me and kicks me down. “No! _No_!” I shriek out, but it’s clear he’s not listening nor does he care.

“After this, I’ll be able to operate properly. Hopefully this doesn’t stunt your powers. Nemu!” He calls, looking over towards the girl. There is no immediate answer and he sighs, “You’ve made quite a mess, I’ll have you know. Now I must fix up Nemu after this… I’ll have to go this procedure alone, since I do not have an responding assistant. No matter, nothing I haven’t done before.”

He doesn’t waste time and jabs Ashisogi Jizō into my left arm, just above the cut. I scream, though I don’t readily feel the pain, however, after a few moments, my screams get louder and Mayuri pulls Ashisogi Jizō out of my arm. “I can’t believe you can still scream. That is an interesting power as well.” I hear him just as clearly as I hear my scream. “But you’re only hurting yourself, girl.”

“Tsubaki!” I screeched out once more. I don’t see Tsubaki’s attack, but I hear him hit the ground and groan, returning to my hairpins. There’s a weird squelching sound and I can feel something hit me, sliding down my face.

I need more power. I need more power. _I need more power._ I can see it. Something in the distance. Something like a box, holding everything in. I need to open it.

“Oh, one of your powers? They’re more versatile than I thought. No matter, I’ll know all about them soon enough.” His voice has a creepy quality of amusement and my vision is all but shot.

I can only feel the pain of him moving on to slice my robes open, exposing my stomach. He tears into it, starting with a small incision around my belly button and drags up a little. And tears pour down my face. I can’t see anything and I don’t know if that’s scarier than me already knowing what he’s doing. “If you’re good, this is the only permanent wound you’ll get. Now… where does your power originate?”

I reach for the box.

I feel him poke and prod my body, before something explodes and a calming reiatsu is placed over me. Mayuri grunts and I still can’t see anything, so based on sound alone, I can tell that he’s not all that close to me. “Th-That Kidou blast!” He yells. “There’s only… of course. You Ryoka are close with Urahara Kisuke, aren’t you?”

What did Urahara have to do with this? What happened? Mayuri approaches again. “Hmm… I wonder why it only activated now? No matter… as long as I take care to avoid it, I should be fi—grk!” There’s a sound of struggle and Mayuri is once again thrust back. “Double-layered?” He seems surprised by whatever it is and something drops. “You’re a foolish man, Urahara. Thinking something like this would protect her… I don’t even want to experiment anymore. It’s time for you to meet your death, young girl.”

I claw at the box. It has the power I seek. I know it does.

I can’t move, yet I continue to scream, though it seems as if Mayuri has already started to ignore my screaming—or it’s just regular screaming now. I don’t even have enough strength to call on the Shun Shun Rikka. “I’m feeling a little perturbed, so I think the best way to end this would be to use my bankai, don’t you think?’

No. No. _No_ , I don’t think this is the best way to do anything! My screams, if anything, get louder.

_I open the box._

The power rushes through me. “ _Tsubaki_!” I scream louder than I ever have. Time seems to go fast and slow all at once. There’s a gap in between me hearing Mayuri’s scream of anguish and someone else’s voice, but I don’t know how long.

“There! There she is!” Someone shouts. My vision, still gone, is no help to me, but the voice sounds familiar.

“With Mayuri?” A smaller, much more feminine voice says. I don’t remember much else—but I do recall Mayuri’s voice. He sounds... broken, odd. Different and I know I'm being picked up.

It’s odd, but I feel slightly… safer. Was this death? I wasn’t sure and at the moment, I didn’t care enough to find out. My consciousness fades.

I’m sorry, everyone. I… I failed you.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaa, I hope it turned out okay, I wanted it more gruesome, but I don’t think I’m at the skill level to do more than this, but I’ve been working on this chapter for a while!! I like what I’ve done, but I feel like I could do more, you know? There should’ve been more... more something, I don’t know, but I hope this is okay to you guys!! Hopefully by the time the Arrancar Arc rolls around, I’ll be able to describe things better. Plus, we’re all limited, as this is first person, so Hoshiko only knows what Hoshiko knows.
> 
> That fight was pretty one sided though, huh? Yeah, Hoshiko, despite all she’s worth, just doesn’t have the fire power uryu has. There was no way she was going to get out of this unharmed.
> 
> Poor girl, she might not make it.
> 
> ||
> 
> Side note, I commish'd a picture of the Hoshi! and it's up there on the blog!! Go take a look to see our girl! I think the picture came out really nice! That's: hoshikonobleach.tumblr.com
> 
> sorry if I broke y'alls hearts by hurting the hoshi


	24. Soul Society: The Rescue Arc: Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Maybe you should shut up, pinhead!” Yachiru turns her head, spitting on Ikkaku.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy December 1st! We're on our way to Christmas!!

 

My eyes snap open and I immediately shut them, slowly opening them to adjust to the bright lights inside of... wherever I am. Have I been captured? Panic settles in me, but it’s not as strong as it would be. Am I dead? No, it doesn’t feel like it, but then again, I don’t really know what death feels like.

“Oh…” I groan, trying to move my arm. I feel it connect with my head, then realize that it’s not my left arm but my right arm—the one I’d broken, or thought I'd broken anyway. “Wh-What…?” I mumble. My voice is hoarse and I feel like I’ve been hit by twenty buses repeatedly. “What’s…?”

“Stop!” A pink-haired girl to my left yelps, looking up at me with a glare. “Don’t move or  _ else _ !”

I freeze, looking around the room at the various faces. There’s four other people in the room besides the two of us. They’re all vaguely familiar and I’m only semi-aware of where I am. Two people, vaguely familiar sit together not too far from me. How did I get here? “It’s you…” I stare at the man from last night, who is sitting on the floor in front of the bed I’m sat on. “You… the weird mustache guy.”

The others snicker as he stands, moving to defend himself. “Aramaki Makizō!” He introduces, “And you should be thanking me!”

“For what? Leaving me behind?” Memories come rushing back.

_ Cold. Everything. _

_ Numb. _

_ Pain. _

_ Death. _

_ The screams…  _

_ The screams… _

_ THE SCREAMS. _

I suck in a breath through my teeth, trying to calm myself. “I… I almost died.” I breathe out, looking up at him. “What happened?”

“We’ll tell you as long as you don’t scream.” The girl frowns, “You’ve been screaming since the moment we picked you up back there!” She shakes her head, though her face says that she’s still annoyed. Well, how about you nearly get operated on and tell me how it feels! I bet you won’t be looking too annoyed then.

“I’m surprised you can even speak… It was hard to deal with.” Ikkaku, who I am surprised to see, leans back on his chair. “Uncontrollable screaming for nearly  _ five _ hours on end—you only stopped about around two hours ago, I guess you ran out of energy.” He shook his head. “…What did Mayuri  _ do _ to you?”

“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” I quickly answer, looking away. I couldn’t remember the dreams I’d had last night, but I was sure they more than likely had to do with Mayuri—nothing hurt, so I was sure it was taking some time for his poisons to wear off… but the thing was…

“How are you still  _ alive _ ?” Yumichika asks, staring at me. “You did rather well escaping with your life in such a one-sided fight. And looks that those scars, ugh, marring up your beautiful brown skin like that.” Yumichika clicks his tongue, shaking his head.

These scars are the least of my worries—I’d rather them than trade my life. I still wasn’t sure how I was alive either. Mayuri’s poisons were known to kill—people generally didn’t live after they’d been subjected to his poisons, and it wasn’t like I had gotten Nemu to give me an antidote or something. It wasn't like Uryu’s fight. Just  _ how _ did I survive?

“You went up against that weirdo so underprepared.” Yachiru continues for them, “How did you even make it before we showed up t’ save ya?”

I blink, looking down at my arm. Yachiru has it in her hold, clumsily stitching it back up. The job was awful looking—the stitches were uneven and didn't close my arm up all the way, but I wasn't bleeding at all, which was worrisome. 

Even more so was the fact that I couldn't  _ feel _ it at all. So, great, neither of my arms really worked, I wasn’t even sure how I was still alive. My robes were still cut around my middle, and I could see bandages wrapped around them—they were nicer and cleaner than how my arm looked, so I could only guess someone else did it.

“I don’t know… I don’t have poison immunity or anything like that…” Maybe it had something to do with those blasts. The moment they went off… Mayuri asked me about Urahara. Had he put in some sort of failsafe against something like this happening? I wouldn’t know for sure until I asked him.

I had to keep it together until we could leave. This was almost over now, so I only had to last until we could make it back. “I honestly can’t tell you what happened. I… it’s blocked from my memory.” Well, it was starting to be. Last night was a blur of pain and headache—there was no way I was going to relive that.

“Understandable.” Yumichika shrugs, “After all, Mayuri  _ is _ a fashion nightmare—and a not so beautiful person. He’s… well, we all know.” The room goes quiet in understanding. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get you better treatment, however. We kind of don’t want the other divisions coming by and seeing you here. Raise suspicions, you see. Even  _ with _ the screaming.” 

It made sense—I was a Ryoka, so I wasn’t supposed to be here after all. But I had gotten lucky. Mayuri might have damaged me badly and given me some nightmares, but I was okay... a word I’d use lightly. I had escaped with my life and that was more than I could say compared to those in his division.

And… if things worked out, I’d never have to see him or feel his cold…  _ cold _ and ugly reiatsu again. I pushed the thought away, I had other things to focus on.

“Oh, it’s fine…” I smile at him slightly, “Most of my body is still numb from  _ whatever _ he did to me, so I can’t even feel this awful stitch job. But who let this kid do it?”

“Hey, I saved your life, you know! If it wasn’t for  _ my _ speed and Kenny’s reputation, Mayuri would’ve had you!” Yachiru pouts, “Plus, nobody else was going to let me play doctor on them! At least I managed to flush all the leftover poison out of your system with my Reiryoku!”

“Probably for good reason.” I mumble, “But… thank you, nonetheless.” I didn’t even know flushing out poison and ailments like that was possible with reiryoku. It’d be something to ask Urahara about once we got back too. If I could learn to do that, it’d help us out greatly—even if it was for my own benefit mostly. And how was Yachiru able to do so? She didn’t seem like the type to be interested in anything medical—maybe Kenpachi got poisoned a lot or something? Paralyzed by Mayuri, maybe? Anything was possible, honestly. 

“So, what’s your name? We’ve been callin’ y’ the Red Hanabi while you slept…  _ screamed... _ unconscious.” Ikkaku leans forward, correcting himself. “Crazy string of fights you been in. Almost like yer one of us.” I chuckle at his words, knowing that they’re praising me… somewhat.

“Hoshiko.” I introduce, “Inoue Hoshiko.” I bow my head slightly, wincing as I do it and Yumichika stares harder at me. Best not to overdo any moving for the time being.

“Right, so Hoshiko.” Ikkaku doesn’t bother with formalities. “Madarame Ikkaku—I know this is sudden, but there's a reason you're here.”

“Kurosaki.” I plainly answer. Ikkaku blinks, nodding, “It always leads back to our Daring Strawberry Leader, doesn't it? …what do you want to know?”

“Yesterday, our captain fought your friend Kurosaki.” Ikkaku says by way of an explanation. “And wants to fight him again. Of course, the battle was... well, let’s just say neither escaped without their injuries. Your friend, however, was left in a pretty bad state. Had a couple of fights under his belt.”

I hum, nodding, “He fought you and Abarai Renji, I’d heard. So what exactly are you asking of me?”

“I’m curious to know what you think.” Ikkaku finally answers, “So, what do you think? About Kurosaki Ichigo, I mean. Is he still alive?”

“Of course he is.” There’s no hesitation in my voice and it throws them off guard a little, I can see. “If I can survive something like  _ this _ … there’s no doubt in my mind Kurosaki is out there…  _ somewhere _ . I may not know exactly where, but I can feel that he’s still alive and strong.” 

It was true—I had managed to survive nearly being experimented on and poisoned by Mayuri, so Ichigo could survive something as superficial as getting slashed a couple of times. He was more than okay, he was going to be a force to be reckoned with once Yoruichi was done with him. 

I got lucky this time—lucky that for some reason, Aramaki and Yachiru came to my aid at the last second. I needed more training, I hated to admit it. But I never wanted this to happen again—there was no way I wanted to need stitches from what looked like an eight-year-old girl. This wasn’t about canon or non-canon, this was about life or death. I honestly could have lost my life last night. That was me out there, not Inoue.  _ Me _ . Screw the canon, I just needed to survive.

Knowing what was happening next and actually trying to  _ do  _ something about it were two different things. I had to take everything one step at a time, lest I end up like this again.

Someone chuckles to my left and I finally notice Kenpachi sitting on the bed opposite mine. I look down, noting Yachiru is done ‘patching’ up my arm but I don’t move it. At this point, I don’t think I can. 

“He’s alive, alright. In fact, I’m certain of it, just as you seem to be.” His deep voice confirms. I know he’s probably guessing—since Kenpachi isn’t too good at sensing energy. “He’s alive and he’s getting stronger even as we speak…”

“That’s Kurosaki for you.” I smile lightly, but it doesn’t seem like Kenpachi is done speaking.

“Now, here’s the deal… I’m going to help you out. Wit’ all the trouble you been in, seems like yer one of us.” I turn to him fully, confused. He stands up, a half-smirk on his face, “So, I get the feeling that if I stick with you… I’ll see Ichigo again a lot  _ sooner _ than I would on my own.”

I knew that there had to be a catch for helping them out—I’m only grateful that I could be of use to them. I didn’t fancy dying here, so I just needed to work with what I got.

Yumichika, Ikkaku and Yachiru stand up, chorusing agreements while Aramaki looks around, confused. “Now… how do we go about getting his attention?” Kenpachi puts his hands together, grinning.

“Wait, before you do anything or go anywhere, update me on the situation.” I grunt, using my right arm to push off of the bed. It’s not the best idea, but I’d rather be standing than at the mercy of Yachiru’s medical skills once more. It hurts to stand—only because my middle isn’t feeling the best, but I still continue to do so, even with the slight shake of pain in my legs. 

Kenpachi towers over me and I shiver, a flash of Mayuri standing over me burns through my memory, but I disregard it. I’d have time for a mental break later. “My friends—the Quincy… the strong Latino, a black cat and… some ugly pig-looking jerk in green—have you seen them?”

“Last I heard, they’d all been admitted into the fourth division holding cells. But I’ve heard of no cat.” Yumichika speaks. I turn to him. “A captain was assassinated and they’re trying to figure out who did it. The money is mainly on you Ryoka, though some fighting has broken out between other captains and lieutenants.”

So, Aizen was already assassinated and the others were in jail. That can only mean that today is the sixth day. “Alright.” I grip my left arm, staring down at it. Boy, am I beat up and battered. “If you help me, I’ll help you.” 

Kenpachi raises an eyebrow, bending down to my height and after facing off against Mayuri and living to tell the tale, this guy doesn’t scare me one bit—even though I know Kenpachi is heaps strong. He’s straightforward and not going to tear me apart with the intention of viewing my insides.

I still needed to piece together some things—like were the Shun Shun Rikka okay? I couldn’t remember using my powers on Mayuri—but I was sure I did. I definitely recall Tsubaki being out, but I was unsure about what happened to him. And I didn’t want to call him out yet, I had to save energy. It was nearing execution crunch time and I would have to heal up Ichigo in order to allow him a fighting chance against Aizen and the others.

“Are you really in the position to make deals, girl?” He asks, his voice rumbling low in amusement.

“Not really, but the best deals are made when you’re up against the wall.” I shrug as best I can, though I’m sure it looks a little awkward and pained. “Kurosaki listens to me, y’know? I’m like… his guiding light or some metaphorical deep shit like that. I could get you in there like swimwear in the middle of July. Much better than showing up wearing a winter coat to a pool party, huh?”

“I don’t get your wording, but… What do you want in exchange, then?” Kenpachi asks, standing to his full height. “This  _ might _ be interesting.”

“Help me break those dumbasses out of jail. I’d do it on my own, but… I look and feel like Frankenstein’s monster, thanks to Pink’s stitch job.” I shoot her a glance. Funny how I always went for humor. “Plus, I’m like…  _ way _ good at sensing Reiryoku—been with Kurosaki for a minute—not a literal minute, but a long time I mean, so I can sense his Reiryoku even by the smallest sliver.” I pinch my index and middle finger together, squinting. “Help you find him way quick  _ and _ convince him to fight you too.”

Kenpachi chuckles, but nods. “Fine, we’ll break your idiot comrades out and then you’re finding me Ichigo… or I’ll kill you.”

“Not afraid. I’m basically impervious to death at this point.” I shrug. “Now, before we do anything, can I eat? And get something new to wear?”

“Oh, I like this girl.” Ikkaku comments.

* * *

We eat. And when I say eat, I mean we eat  _ a lot _ . Or… Ikkaku and Kenpachi eat a lot. Yumichika feeds me because my arms don’t work too well now that I’ve had Yumichika rebandage them tightly, covering the bad stitches that Yachiru left in my arm. They were really the only thing holding my lower arm together and with the amount of blood I lost… I was probably going to be kind of out of it for a while. I needed real medical attention soon.

Most of my wounds are covered by bandages and the new uniform that I wear, properly labeled as Squad Eleven. I felt the need to hide them, lest we find Uryu and the others and they start questioning me. I looked fine enough with the sleeves rolled down, hanging over my hands, since my hair was now plaited in a nice, long braid thanks to Yumichika and my uniform crisp and pristine. I was lucky not to have any cuts or bruises on my face—but then again, maybe Yumichika took care of them when he helped me wash my face not too long ago. 

I didn’t know if he knew healing kido, but maybe he did, since it would be too troublesome to go to the fourth division every time they got into a bad wreck. Yumichika seemed to be the most responsible out of all of them, sure Ikkaku seemed responsible, but he probably just slapped his medical salve on his cuts and bruises and kept it moving.

Yumichika was my saving grace here; Yachiru was of no help and I didn’t trust Aramaki to help me change. Ikkaku looked as if he’d have done it if Yumichika wasn’t there, but Yumichika was, and I was thankful for him. If I ever saw him again after this, I would definitely be giving him whatever he wanted.

Because Yumichika was feeding me, I didn’t have the luxury of stuffing my own food into my face at an alarming rate. Which meant, I had to take whatever Yumichika had spooned up onto some chopsticks for me. “She’s so…  _ cute _ !” Yumichika coos at me, holding out some rice. “You eat adorably. Who knew the human world had such… gorgeous people.”

“Yeah, we’re all pretty smokin’. Must be the water supply. You should see my boss, he’s a real looker.” I say after gulping down the rice. It’s hard to gulp it down—nothing I’ve eaten wants to stay down, so Yumichika feeding me is for the best. He keeps the pace slow so that I don’t overdo anything and throw it up unwillingly. “I’m done.” I say after a moment, “I don’t think I can stomach any more than this. Thank you, Yumicchi.”  _ Without throwing it up _ goes unsaid. 

Yumichika seems to like the nickname I’ve given him and nods graciously. Man, this guy was more elegant than anything I’d ever seen. I wish I had that type of behavior. I sit for a moment, letting the food digest as I turn to Kenpachi, who was tearing into some chicken. “So, it’s about that time.”

“Other captains will probably be on guard of them… since they’re suspected of killing Captain Aizen.” Ikkaku comments, sipping at a cup of water. “But they aren’t anything our captain can’t handle.”

“Of course. To contend with Kurosaki means you gotta be one of the best.” I grab my own cup, shakily bringing it to my mouth. Despite the better part of my arms being numb, they still shake and act as if I can feel every action. I have to watch my arms to make sure that they’re working before I do anything, which was the reason why Yumichika was feeding me.

I leave the room for a moment, intent on finding the bathroom when I feel something in the hallway, I turn, seeing that girl…  _ Nemu _ from yesterday. Against my better judgement, I raise my arm, pressing my fingers to my hairpin and she stares blankly at me. 

She doesn’t look much better than I feel—with blood caked on her uniform and healing cuts on her body and approaches me slowly. I look towards the door and she speaks. “I mean you no harm.”

“Yeah, right.” I sneer, backing away, “You and that other fucker tried to kill me last night. What could you possibly want  _ now _ ? Come to finish the job or something? I have… Captain Kenpachi on my side…” The words were weak in my throat. 

Sure, I had Kenpachi for now…  _ maybe _ … but was he going to come to my rescue right now? Maybe he’d wait until I was beaten up more and use me as leverage to get Ichigo to fight. Hell, I’d do it.

“I am merely here to… see how you are doing.” Nemu tilts her head, unsure of how to show concern. “It was hard… injecting you with the right antidotes while you were under heavy guard. And the wailing…”

So  _ that’s _ what happened. I raise an eyebrow at her. Yachiru had nothing to do with getting the poison out of my system—but it would still be something to ask Urahara about when we got back. “…Why?” I ask her, “I’m your enemy and I nearly killed you… why would you help me?”

Her motives were unclear—I could vaguely recall that when Uryu went up against Mayuri, Nemu helped him because he didn’t kill Mayuri. All I had really done was… get injected with two poisons and thrash about—I don’t know what else I did to him, but it probably wasn’t a lot.

“…because you didn’t.” She simply says, her expression never changing. “Despite you cutting me and making that rock fall on me… you shielded me from most of the rock.” So, she noticed. I knew she probably would have, but I wasn’t sure if it would have worked or not—she was far from me, and I barely had control of my powers last night, but it worked. “In a desperate situation like the one you found yourself in… your power increased so much… if you weren’t  _ still _ holding back, I’m sure you could have done more than merely damage more than 75% of his body. More than enough to cause him to liquify himself in order to escape… You need not worry about him, as he will be recovering for the next week or so--you damaged a severe amount of his cells, but he will be able to regenerate now that he is in our headquarters. So… I feel as if I owe you at least this much for not killing him.”

Is… is  _ that _ what I did? I was more dangerous than I thought.  _ Good _ , I thought,  _ he needed to get something done to him for hurting me, even if it was temporary. _

“You are an interesting person,” Nemu continues, “As my master has said and… getting on former Captain Urahara Kisuke’s bad side is not something I wish upon me or my master. He has the ruthlessness of a God.”

There they go mentioning Urahara again. I frown, “Well… thank you for your help, I guess.” 

Nemu… wasn’t a bad person, even if she was incredibly loyal to Mayuri. And I guess being affiliated with Urahara wasn’t a bad thing either—even though he was forbidden from entering the Soul Society at this time… I guess his power still held weight among the members.

“The numbness that is incorporated into the antidote should last around five more hours, allowing you to regain some of your senses and allow usage of your body, something akin to the boost one gets in their ‘final hour’, so to speak. Then the pain will hit you full force—strong enough to knock you out for three days, but not enough to kill you. It’s best to receive medical care while you are numb or unconscious. By the time you wake up, it will be like you’ve never been poisoned and there will be no traces of the hallucinogen in your blood system. I’d suggest you keep your wounds closed, lest the fast-acting blood replacing agent I injected you with not do its job properly.” 

Nemu then bows, disappearing just as quickly as she came and I don’t feel the need to use the bathroom anymore. I stand in the hallway for a moment longer. Nemu really thought of everything… she went to such lengths to… ensure that I lived. Did she truly care for Mayuri that much? What form of extreme Stockholm Syndrome was this? Going so far as to save your enemy from keeling over for sparing your master… these were people I really didn’t want to mess with.

When I enter the room again, I’m sure that everyone knows that someone was out there with me, but none of them comment—not even the ever-nosy Yachiru. Instead, she is making fun of Aramaki.

Kenpachi finishes off his chicken and stands. “Girl. Can you grab things?” I look up at him before looking down at my hands, testing them out. 

It’s easier to move my right than my left, but that’s probably due to the uneven stitching job that I received. The numbness hasn’t faded—which is concerning, since it’s been hours since I’ve woken up and started doing things—but what Nemu told me puts the concerns to rest.

I had no reason  _ not _ to trust her, her reasons seemed valid in the _ ‘we’re helping you so as not to incur the wrath of someone else’ _ department. She helped me so I wouldn’t run back and tell Urahara. But what could he do? He wasn’t even allowed back in here yet. I push Reiryoku through my system, feeling it prickle beneath my skin, so my arms aren’t  _ completely _ useless, but I still can’t feel my hand clenching and unclenching.

Yeah, I definitely needed real medical attention. “ _ Hoshiko _ , and I think so.” I finally answer, “Why?”

“Good.” A grin spread across Kenpachi’s face. He picks me up and maneuvers me onto his back. 

I sputter, trying to make a sound, but my voice can’t go higher than my speaking tone due to me over exhausting my sonic scream. I grip onto his white captain’s cloak. There’s no way I’d be able to stay attached to him just like this. I use my Reiryoku, gathering it on my upper body and allowing it to help me stick to Kenpachi. I don’t have a lot of it since I was still recovering and I knew that I had to save it to heal Ichigo later—so I use the bare minimum and grip his arm a little tighter.

Yachiru comes up next to me, grabbing Kenpachi. “Now that we’re done fuckin’ around… let’s get goin’!” Kenpachi bursts out of the room, running down the hall. There was no warning or anything, we just started moving immediately. I was going to be sick.

“Hey! Don’t throw up back here!” Yachiru whines. I nod rapidly, gulping it down. The sooner this was over, the better. We left the barracks of the eleventh and Kenpachi only seemed to pick up speed, heading down the streets and running by two men who were trying to grovel at his feet.

“Girl, which way are we heading?” Kenpachi asks me as he continues to pick up speed. 

I pause for a moment, trying to sense which way Uryu and the others’ reiatsu was. It was hard—considering I’d been separated from them for so long and it still felt as if my senses were somehow blocked. Like I was sensing through a steel plated box that was meant to stifle your sensing abilities.

It muffled most of them, to the point where I could barely sense Yumichika and the others’ reiatsu and they were only behind us a couple of steps. “Uh… this wa—hey!” I manage to move my head before Yachiru can slam hers into mine.

“That way, Kenny!” Yachiru points in the direction opposite the one that I pointed in. “Kenny knows it’s this way too, right Kenny?” Kenpachi doesn’t answer, instead focusing on running.

“Jealous is an ugly color on you!” I glare at her. She just shrugs, grinning maliciously. Ikkaku and the others come up behind us, running just a few steps behind Kenpachi.

“Captain, maybe you should let Hoshiko lead us—she probably knows their reiatsu signatures better than us.” Ikkaku suggests, “After all, Lieutenant Yachiru’s sensing abilities aren’t… much better than yours.”

“Maybe you should shut up,  _ pinhead _ !” Yachiru turns her head, spitting on Ikkaku. Wow, this girl was actually very rude. If she was my child, I’d have done something about this from the beginning—but Kenpachi obviously didn’t care.

“I’mma kill ‘er…” Ikkaku raises his sword, a glint of murder in his eyes.

“Come now, Ikkaku.” Yumichika says, placing a hand on the man’s arm as they run, “You kind of walked into that one.”

“Enough of all this bickering, I’mma just go with my instincts.” Kenpachi cut through the banter with his low voice. Yachiru and Aramaki choruses with agreement while I just gripped him a little tighter. There’s no way we’d make it there any time soon, judging by these two’s sense of direction. 

The day was just barely beginning. I hoped that we’d be able to rescue the boys and make it to Rukia’s execution in time.

One could only hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments I received for the last chapter! I'll have y'all know I was really hesitant, but things worked out in the end, yes? 
> 
> Next time!:
> 
> "Ichigo turns to face me, eyes wide. “What?”"


	25. Soul Society: The Rescue Arc: Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local Woman Puts On Front That She's Not Dying. No One Believes Her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how everyone reacted to the preview I did last chapter!! So I'mma do another one this chapter!

 

Kenpachi is… extremely  _ bad _ at directions, yet somehow, we make it to the Fourth Division barracks after ten wrong turns and four dead ends with time to spare. I still feel sick, but I’ve long since adjusted to the fast pace that Kenpachi sets and there’s a newfound bit of respect for Yachiru—Kenpachi moves at high speeds all the time—with scenery blurring behind us and around us and Yachiru is acting like this is a normal occurrence. 

Now I see why these people are so crazy.

The moment we enter the building, I feel Uryu and the others’ reiatsu. Though it’s faint, I can tell it’s them. There’s a very great distinction between that of a Shingami and that of a Quincy and Pseudo-Arrancar. 

“Here! They’re here!” I shout at him. Kenpachi doesn’t respond and instead, tears through the hallways, leaving screams of pain and panic in his wake. Well, you can’t say that Kenpachi Zaraki didn’t know how to make an entrance. 

“Where are they?” He asks me pointedly and I reach out my sense. Slowly, things were coming back to me, but I’m sure that was just the calm before the storm. If this really worked out like Nemu said, I would be hit with an intense wave of pain in about four and a half hours and be knocked out cold.

“Down!” I shout. “Right below!” Kenpachi stomps his foot a couple of times, cracking the floor, before he jumps and it gives way. A cloud of dust covers our arrival as the debris falls into the cell. I hear two loud, nearly identical screams as Kenpachi lands in the cell like it was nothing, lightly tapping the ground as I lurch forward, smacking his back a little hard. Yumichika, Ikkaku and Aramaki land behind us and Yumichika and Ikkaku step around Kenpachi, posing at his sides while Aramaki cowers behind his captain.

Really, let it be known that this man and his group knew how to make an  _ entrance _ . I hear Ganju sputter out something to Kenpachi, though the man doesn’t respond. “N-Not you too! I remember your stupid haircut and shitty personality!”

“I wish I could say the same.” Yumichika grips his sword, thumbing it open slightly, “But I don’t remember the faces or names of ugly people all that well.”

“Oh! That’s a burn!” I peek over Kenpachi’s shoulder. “Next stop, Burn City, population:  _ Ganjuuu _ !”

“H-Hoshiko?” Sado and Uryu both shout, surprised, shock and something like relief in their voices while Ganju argues with Yumichika from a distance. 

Yachiru grips my waist, trying to pull me down and I move to kick her off—I hated bratty kids. The only one I could deal with was Jinta and Yachiru was just climbing up and up my shit list. Wait till I was back at full power, brat!

“Yachiru, stop!” I yelp, gripping Kenpachi’s shoulder to keep from falling off.

“Fall! Fall! Fall!” She cheered, yanking on me.

“You want me to fall? Okay!” I release my hold on Kenpachi and drop, landing straight on Yachiru.

“Get your huge butt off of me!” She whines, slamming her fist on the ground. I get up and turn to her, frowning. “You’re a meanie!”

“You’re a brat!” I yell back, walking around Kenpachi, who is stuck staring the group down. “Hey, guys!” I raise my good—and that’s a term I use loosely—arm, greeting them. “Long time no see!”

“H-Hoshiko-san!” Uryu and Sado rush over to me. “Are you alright? What happened? You’ve been alone this whole time, right? The other night, what was that? Your reiatsu spiked so high, it was painful to feel.” Uryu’s questions are a flurry of words that take a moment for me to register. I slowly, mechanically nod my head at him.

“I’m fine for now… a lot has happened and yeah, I’ve been alone.” I answer his questions. “But we don’t have time to play catch up. Rukia’s execution is today, so we have to move—Kenpachi and his group here have decided to help us, so long as he gets to fight Kurosaki.”

Uryu looks me over, obviously not ready to let the topic go, but decides against pushing it. Good, I didn’t want to have to relive yesterday’s nightmare yet. “Well, we should get a move on, then. This is a jailbreak, no time to chill!” I pat Uryu on the shoulder.

“We’ll have to stop and get you guys some uniforms and shoes.” Yumichika comments, “I’m not going around with you guys dressed like that…” He eyes the three of them warily. I eye Uryu, noting that his glasses aren’t on his face and there’s bandages over his eye. Peeking from underneath the bandages are a long scar that looks to be healing. It's still rather pinkish, almost raw looking.

“Uryu, what  _ happened _ ?” I ask as Kenpachi tears apart the cell door like it was a piece of paper. Remind me never to get on his bad side. Yumichika and Ikkaku set to work taking the cuffs off of the three of them. After he's freed, Uryu reaches up, touching his eye.

“I got careless…” He simply says. “Those two captains were no joke... Sado and I barely made it out of there, not to mention we got separated...”

“Jeez…” I sigh out, holding up my hand. “ _ Sōten Kesshun _ .” I knew I had to save my energy to eventually heal Ichigo, but if I hadn’t messed up when we first arrived, Uryu wouldn’t be missing an eye like this. His scar fades quickly and Uryu blinks his visible eye. He removes the bandages around his eye and blinks it a couple of times. Because I had been focused on his eye, I didn’t get to heal the scar that cut his chin or any of his other wounds.

“Wow… your power is amazing.” Uryu breathes out, putting on his glasses, which are broken. “Don’t suppose you can fix these too?” He points to them.

“Sorry, can't do inanimate objects.” I tell him, shaking my head. “I’d like to heal all of you, but Kurosaki… I’m sure he’s a mess at this point. Just waiting to be saved, by me, The Red Hanabi.”

“You should save it for him then, Hanabi-san.” Sado places a hand on my head. “After all, we’ve been dealt with by the fourth division. It’s just small things mostly. We’ll be fine.” He assures me. 

“Let’s get a move on!” Ikkaku calls into the cell. Uryu picks me up, depositing me on Sado’s back.

“I  _ can _ walk, you know!” I tell them, but don’t make a move to get down. I probably couldn’t even if I wanted to. Uryu fixes me with a stern glare and Sado grunts, agreeing with the look on Uryu’s face.

“Now, we may not like each other much, but I gotta agree with ya friends here.” Ganju, surprisingly steps him, “Ya look like ya might fall over if you stand fer too long. So let th’ big guy carry ya, okay?”

I frown, crossing my arms around Sado’s neck lightly and pouting. If Ganju, one of my small-time rivals was worried, then that was a pretty big deal. God, who knew how Urahara and Yoruichi would react to my injuries? And Ichigo? After all the shit I talked, he’d probably make fun of me. If he did I would make sure to make my healing hurt as much as possible.

“Fine...” I relent. Sado was the much safer choice to be giving a piggyback ride, after all, so I wasn’t all too upset about it. 

We follow Kenpachi and the others down the hall out of the holding cell area and back up onto the floor where we’d broken through. Yumichika has beaten us up there and holds out a couple of uniforms, gesturing towards Sado and the others.

“Better hurry.” Kenpachi spits, looking around. “I’m itchin’ for a fight an’ you promised me, red-head.”

“I don’t break promises, Kenpachi. Next stop, we find Kurosaki.” I nod to Kenpachi.

The floor is just a mess—when we were up here initially, it was a mass of chaos. Everyone was panicking and trying to get out of Kenpachi’s way as he demanded to know where the prisoners were—because they knew fighting him wasn’t an option, but they ended up getting smacked into walls and injured anyway, even when they weren’t trying to engage. 

It made me wonder where Unohana was, considering she would have dealt with Kenpachi so easily. She was a scary one, that Unohana Retsu.

I guess that’s just the power of the eleventh division. It doesn’t take long for the boys to emerge, dressed in the Shinigami uniform. I reclaim my place on Sado’s back and we leave, the group running out of the fourth barracks and trying to head towards the Senzaikyū. As far as we know, Rukia is still there and hasn’t made it over to the actual execution area.

* * *

 

Yachiru’s directions lead up to a dead end for the sixth time. “Someone else should really be leading us—y’know, someone who can actually sense things?” I say aloud, looking pointedly at Yachiru. “Someone who knows what we’re looking for.”

“Be a little nicer, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu whispers to me, “She’s just a  _ kid _ .”

“You don’t know that. She could be as old as our parents are.” I retort, sticking out my tongue. “Besides, she’s been on me  _ all _ morning and she stitched my arm up something nasty.”

“Stitches?” Uryu repeats, raising an eyebrow. I gulp, looking away from him. I shouldn’t have said anything, now he was curious. Ikkaku makes his own comment and Yachiru, out of spite and embarrassment bites his head. He flails around, screaming.

“Someone get this thing off of me! Please! She’s actually biting me!” Ikkaku yells, trying to grab at Yachiru.

“Hey, Yachiru, why not give it another--!” I cut myself off. My breath catching in my throat. I guess I was starting to get more of my senses back. There was a nasty-feeling presence in the air. Yumichika steps towards Kenpachi, who nods slightly.

“Hah.” Kenpachi’s chuckle cuts through Ikkaku and Yachiru’s bickering, “You should be ashamed of yourselves… lurking around in the shadows like that… Show yourselves and face me head on! Hiding and stalking is no way for a captain to act!”

A heavy spiritual pressure pours over us, but it’s nothing like what I felt yesterday—compared to that, this is easy pickings, though I can see it’s affecting the others in the group. I’d like to wash my calming reiatsu over them, but I couldn’t, I only had enough to heal Ichigo—I couldn’t even heal Tsubaki and I knew vaguely that he might need it, especially after last night.

“You have some  _ nerve _ to talk like that, Kenpachi… aren’t you aware of what you’re doing?” Someone says. We all look up, spotting four bodies making an appearance from the roof of the far side wall. Yumichika and Aramaki pale at their presence.

Komamura, Tosen and their lieutenants stand on the roof, watching us. “…What are you doing with the Ryoka, Kenpachi? What? Lost all self-respect when you were defeated by one?” Tosen speaks lowly, but somehow his voice manages to carry over to us.

“C-Captains…. K-Komamura and Tosen… and Lieutenants Hisagi and I-Iba…?” Aramaki says in disbelief, backing up slightly. “Oh, damn…”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Aramaki!” Yumichika snaps, “We still outnumber them.”

“Yeah, but I can’t fight.” I raise my arm. “Not close combat, anyway.” Or pretty much at all. Because my arms were mostly numb, I couldn’t feel much of anything, so I wasn’t sure if my hits would actually have an impact—plus, I was sure that I was rather slow anyway.

“Yeah, but it’s not numbers I’m worried about!” Aramaki cowers behind Yumichika slightly.

“Quit all that bitchin’!” Kenpachi cuts through the conversation, “Who in the hell said I’d be lettin’ you fight anyway?” From here, I can see him lick his lips, obviously getting excited, “Four to one… that’s not even enough to give my blade some practice. I’m honestly pretty turnt off.”

“…Four to one, you say?” Komamura questions, “You think you’re good enough to take on  _ all four  _ of us at the same time?”

“Oh, I don’t think… I  _ know _ .” Kenpachi narrows his eye at Komamura. He smirks and the atmosphere around him changes somewhat. There’s excitement in the air, and I look to the others who seem to bristle in anticipation.

“Your ego knows no bounds.” Komamura responds, “However, it doesn’t matter… you will soon learn how to humble yourself.”

“Hah! You talk too much, Sajin…” Kenpachi grabs his Zanpakutō, pulling it out and pointing it at them. “And the four of you better come prepared. Here’s a tip… if you come at me from all four sides, you  _ might _ actually be able to cut me!”

“Uh… Captain, what should we do?” Aramaki asks. Kenpachi swings his Zanpakutō to the side.

“Just leave, dumbass. You’ll only get in my way.” He orders. Aramaki walks away, leaning against the wall to sulk.

“Don’t worry about it, Whiskers. Kenny’s  _ really _ happy right now so there’s no reason to get involved.” Yachiru informs him. Aramaki still sulks, but Yachiru turns back to Kenpachi. “We’re gonna go now, Kenny! We’ll find Ichigo for you, okay? And you catch up soon!”

“I’ll be right there…” Kenpachi says menacingly, though it sounds more like he’s talking to his opponents than to Yachiru.

“Cow, Monkey! Muscles and Pencil! Let’s get ready to go!” Yachiru calls, waving her hand at us.

“If I wasn’t injured…” I mumbled, glaring at her.

“D-Did she just call me…?” Uryu points at himself. Yachiru grabs his arm, pulling Uryu ahead as she calls for everyone else to follow her. The group of us—minus Kenpachi—leave, following behind the quick little lieutenant, hopefully towards Ichigo.

* * *

 

“Little girl, slow down!” Uryu yells, pulling his hand away from Yachiru, “Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave your captain by himself back there?”

“Of course!” Yachiru sounds as chipper as ever, “Kenny’s really strong so having anybody else there would just get in the way!” 

I couldn’t argue with that—I hadn’t seen him in action in this world yet, but I knew he wasn’t anything to sneeze at, which is why I didn’t bother asking if we should go back. I knew the answer—Kenpachi could take care of them alone. And now he had Yumichika and Ikkaku to help him out, so he was more than fine at this point.

We had to focus on rescuing Rukia and the rest would surely follow. Gin’s words echoed in my mind and I swear I felt someone else watching us at the moment. I shake it off, looking down at Sado.

“How long do you think we have?” I tap Sado on the shoulder. The group of them all share looks, but nobody answers, “Thanks…” I murmur. I didn’t know either, but I was on even more of a time crunch. I don’t know how much time has passed since Nemu told me about the antidote’s deadline, so I had to hurry.

“Wait, wait!” Yachiru calls out, skidding to a halt. Sado and the others stop, looking down at Yachiru. She points upwards and we follow her finger, staring at something that looks like blue fire, rising up into the sky. Even from here, we can feel the tail ends of the reiatsu that pours out from that direction.

“What’s that…?” Sado breathes out, caught entranced in watching it.

“The execution!” I shout, “I-It’s starting!”

“She’s right.” Yachiru says, her tone serious.

“We’d better hurry if we want to get there in time.” Sado turns to Uryu who nods.

“You bet! And I’ll go first.” Yachiru walks forward.

“Why?” I ask her, “Why do you have to go off by yourself?”

“Oh… it’s not about the execution. It’s just… maybe Ichi is there! You know we been lookin’ for him all this time and...” Yachiru says, “...And I have to try to help Ichi! Since he’s Kenny’s new best friend and all.”

Her line of thinking was…  _ odd _ , but I guess she did have good intentions. “Well, I’mma go ahead an’ take care of all the strong guys, okay? And you guys do the small fry!” With that, Yachiru leaves us behind in a trail of dust.

I slip off of Sado’s back. “Hoshi--!”

“C’mon! We can’t let her get away.” I turn to them. “We might be a little slower, but we can catch up in no time if we start now! Let’s get going!” I turn, pushing Reiryoku into my feet and taking off. I can sense the boys running behind me. There was no way we were going to arrive later. I knew I wasn't in the best shape, but we could help too. “We can follow her trail of reiatsu before it goes cold!”

The group of us follow after Yachiru, with me in the lead while the others follow behind. I wasn’t going to leave everything up to Ichigo. A wave of energy goes through my body and I look up. The flames seem to have dispersed in the time it took for us to start running.

“Something's happening up there!” Ganju shouts. Ropes spin around in the air, unfurling from the large pole and eventually shoot of, flying in separate directions. “We’re cuttin’ it close.” Panic arises in my mind and I push a little harder. We have to make it, Rukia was going to die otherwise.

“Rukia!” I shout as loud as I can, my voice cracking, “We’re coming for you! I promise!” We reach the foot of the hill, just in time to see a large bird made of fire hurtle towards the execution stand. 

The entrance to the steps of the hill have a gate in front of them and the moment we reach it, I feel more than see or hear, the large fire bird make its way towards Rukia. “Rukia’s up there! On-on that thingy!” I shout, taking off up the stairs.

“N-No way! You’re  _ crazy _ for thinking about goin’ up there!” Aramaki stops running. I stop halfway, looking at him. We didn’t have time for this. “You don’t have to do this. Why all this for that girl?”

“We were crazy for even coming here in the first place!” I yell at him, “An’ this crazy train called ‘friendship’ ain’t stoppin’ here. Either you’re on or you’re off!”

“That’s right, we’re Ichigo’s friends, so no matter what, we’re going to be there for him.” Sado adds on. Uryu nods and Ganju hums in agreement. “And be there for Rukia.”

“I guess this is where we part then.” Uryu says, “Thank you for your help, mini-mustache-san.”

“Yeah, mini-mustache.” Ganju and I chorus. Aramaki steps back and I turn, heading up the steps, followed by Ganju, Uryu and Sado.

“Place your bets!” I yell, trying to take our minds off of the large, earth shaking explosion that’s nearly thrown us off the steps. “When we get up there, do you think Kurosaki and Rukia are gonna be arguing or what?”

“That’s a horrible bet to make.” Sado nearly groans, the most emotion I’ve heard him ever use. “They obviously are. I’m not taking it because I know I’ll lose.”

“Now is  _ not _ the time to make bets! We have to get up there!” Uryu scolds us both. Oh, Uryu, if you only knew. It was always time to place bets. Lightens up the mood. I let my senses travel as we went up. Halfway up the hill, a large pressure hits us.

“Th-That must be Kurosaki!” I guess. It had to be—but he wasn’t the only one up there either—there was more than just him fighting in this area too. “Looks like everyone’s having a fight!”

“All this power being thrown around… it’s…  _ amazing _ !” Ganju cries out, “Closer we are, heavier it gets.”

“Has to be Kurosaki.” Uryu confirms, “He’s the only one I know who would throw Reiatsu around like that… he’s the only one dumb enough to do something like that and be so wasteful.” It doesn’t take long for us to reach the top and we face a forest of dead trees.

“Damn, we can’t see anything.” Ganju curses, looking around.

“Doesn’t matter. You can sense him too, right?” I look to the others. “Kurosaki’s reiatsu is clear and loud like always… but…”

“I don’t sense Rukia’s.” Sado chimes in, “Hopefully she hasn’t been crucified.”

“Don’t say stuff like that with such a straight face, Sado!” I smack him on the arm. “Rukia is probably fine! No news is good news…”

“In every situation but this one.” Uryu replies. “I don’t sense her at all anywhere in this place.”

“Well, that’s because she’s gone! She already escaped!” Yachiru says from above us.

“Yachiru!” I gasp out, “Is it true?” Yachiru jumps down, nodding and pointing ahead.

“Only Ichi and Byakuya are out there now—Rukia is nowhere up here anymore!” She giggles. I felt relief course through my body, but I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet. Somehow, Rukia would end up back on this hill. “And captains are fighting each other too! It’s a madhouse ‘round here! Kenny would’ve liked it up here too!”

“If Rukia’s escaped… why is Ichigo still fighting?” Sado asks the group.

“Probably in order to assure that this never happens again. If he’s fighting someone strong, it means that he’s willing to go the length to make sure we don’t have to come back to rescue her.” Uryu explains.

“Kurosaki is putting everything into this battle…” I say, “He wants them to completely give up the idea of ever putting Rukia to an execution again.”

“Won’t be hard—since two of the captains destroyed what we use t’ execute people.” Yachiru chimes in with a shrug.

“Wh-What the hell… is wrong with you people?” Aramaki points accusatorily at us. The others turn to face him. “Why are you all willing to go to such lengths to save this girl? Why is she so important to you?”

“Well, who wouldn't go to such length for a friend? Can you really call yourselves friends unless you're willing to risk your life for someone?” I begin, staring Aramaki dead in the eye, “And to Kurosaki… she’s the one who changed his life—we wouldn’t be here if Rukia and Kurosaki didn’t meet. Even more than that… Rukia is… an important person to us. I know that if it were one of us up there, Rukia wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for us.”

Uryu and Sado nod in agreement and Aramaki stares at me, flabbergasted. But, it’s true. Rukia was a dear, precious friend to me, and there was no way that I was going to just sit idly by and let her almost die for a crime that’s not even that severe. She didn’t deserve this—no one did. 

Another swirl of energy hits, sending debris and tree branches our way. “Everyone, behind me!” I shout, throwing up my shield. 

Yachiru falls out of the tree, landing on Ganju’s back when he falls while Sado and Uryu take cover behind my shield, cementing themselves against it. Pieces of rock smack into it, cracking near the corners and once it’s over, I drop it, panting. Shielding took a lot more out of me than I thought. 

“...Seems like the battle isn’t too far from where we are now.” I wipe my forehead, staring in the general direction of Ichigo’s fight.

“Maybe we should move…” Uryu puts his hand on my shoulder. “You’re more injured than you’ve told us, aren’t you?” I freeze, looking up at him. “Favoring your right arm… not turning or twisting too much… you’re fatigued, nearly reiatsu-exhausted, aren’t you? We should move.”

“All of what you said might be true, but moving isn’t going to help me out much, is it, Uryu?” I turn my gaze towards him. “We still have to meet Kurosaki after the battle.”

“We stay. So that if Ichigo needs us…” Sado trails.

“We’ll be right here.” I finish, “If you’re afraid, I can throw up my shield for you.” I smile lightly, teasing him.

“No, it’s alright. I was just worried.” Uryu quickly says, “I don’t have my medical kit, otherwise I’d take a look at those wounds of yours.”

“I can just tell you what some of them are.” I grin, rocking on my heels. “When I fell to the ground on the first day, I dislocated my shoulder—because I couldn’t put it back into place, it swelled and bruised, but I can still use it, kinda—it’s my right shoulder, by the way. Second day when I fought against this guy with spinny blades, I got a bunch of little cuts, but that was fine. And well... I don’t remember the rest. I ate though, so I’m not that bad!”

I was trying to make light of my injuries, because I knew there was nothing any of us could do at the moment to make them any better. There was no use crying over spilt milk, in my opinion, but the look Uryu was giving me told me he thought otherwise.

“Take better care of yourself, Hoshiko-san!” He scolded, “A dislocated shoulder? Cuts? You’ve been walking around for three or four days with these injuries? Urahara-san isn’t going to like this at all.”

“And whatever she got last night.” Aramaki added in, though it didn’t seem like Uryu had heard him. Thank God. 

I can feel Byakuya and Ichigo clashing once more. It was like lightning, shining through the dead trees with waves of reiatsu pouring off of it like waves and wavering away like smoke. Sado sat down near a tree while Ganju faced the other way, it was clear that this was getting to him, along with the occasional scream.

I paced. There was nothing we could do—going over there now would make Ichigo lose his concentration and we couldn’t have him being distracted against Byakuya—that would result in him getting hurt even more. I moved in a slow gait, trying not to aggravate my injuries much more than I already had. At least I wasn’t bleeding from my stomach yet.

“Did you guys ever think of how you’re going to leave?” Aramaki speaks up, his eyes scanning the group. “You’re all Ryoka. Leaving won’t be as easy as getting in.”

“I’m sure we could use the front door,” I joked, “At this point, it’s probably the least guarded thing around… after we find Rukia of course.”

Leaving wouldn’t be a problem—Aizen would help us with that. In his wake, we would be regarded as ‘heroes’ and given better treatment for helping to bring Aizen’s schemes to light. So, that was the least of our worries.

The thing that was most worrying now was Aizen. Ichigo was on the tail ends of his fight with Byakuya, that would end any moment now and right after, it would start up something entirely new. 

I had to think—what could we do? There was no choice here but to let it happen—as much as I wanted to stop the execution and abide by Gin’s cryptic and completely unhelpful words, I knew that at this point, it was much too late in the game to be able to do that. If I hadn’t had my run in with Mayuri last night, we might’ve had more of a fighting chance to beat Aizen and keep the Hōgyoku for ourselves, but as we were now... that wouldn’t be happening. 

Because the events, even with my meddling, seemed to line up pretty much the same as they did in the original canon, Rukia had the Hōgyoku stuck inside her and Aizen had to remove it. Nobody was strong enough to beat him—not while he was at full power. Aizen was a strong ass motherfucker, I’ll say that. He was no joke and none of us were exactly in the best shape of our lives.

Despite the others being in better shape than me, the fact still stood that we were all classified as injured. Aizen could probably tap us and we would go down—especially me. I felt a sharp pain in my chest and pressed my half-working right arm against it, sucking in a breath as I did so.

Something wasn’t right in there, but I could deal with it. “It stopped.” I casually inform the others. “They’re done.”

They go quiet for a moment, but I don’t wait. “C’mon! Let’s move.” Sado is the first to start running and we follow after him.

Ichigo’s scream tears through the forest and we reach him just in time to see Byakuya walk off, and I use that term rather loosely. Byakuya doesn’t look much better than Ichigo, but somehow he retains enough dignity to be able to move at a pace resembling a walk until he’s able to use Shunpo to disappear. 

“Kurosa—oof!” I trip, slamming into Ichigo’s back and knocking him down onto his stomach. I flail, landing on top of him.

“What a comedy act…” Sado chuckles. “It's good to have everyone together.”

“Kurosaki!” I shout. Ichigo clutches his head, and groans. He turns, managing enough strength to flop onto his back and I sit up, in front of him. I don’t apologize for bumping into him and hold my semi-good hand up to my mouth like a microphone. “Inquiring minds want to know! How does it  _ feel _ beating  _ The _ Kuchiki Byakuya? How  _ do _ you feel, Kurosaki Ichigo?”

I hold out my arm to Ichigo who stares at it before smirking a little, “It feels… tiring.” Ichigo looks over at the others, his eyes wide. “Guys… it’s good to see you. You’re all… fine…?”

“For the most part, yes.” Uryu pushes his glasses up, huffing out a sigh of relief and slight amusement. “Some more injured than others.” I can feel his gaze on my back before it switches to Ichigo. “We’ve all been through the mill, but none more so than you two.”

“Well, still…” Ichigo reiterates. “It’s good to see you.” I pull Ichigo’s ear, shaking my head. “It’s been so long… I might have even missed your abuse, Inoue.”

“That’s not a good thing to say, Kurosaki. People will start to think I’m a terrible person. Though... I’m just glad we all managed to follow sensei’s instructions—nobody died over break!” I cheer, grinning at him, “But… ah, you look pretty hit, Kurosaki. Was it the 10 o’clock bus or the 11:45? And where's Yoruichi?”

“The 2:15 express. I think she fell off the cliff or something.” Ichigo grins, looking us all all over, “But with the way you're looking, I could say the same to you, Inoue. Why aren’t you using that arm? You’re left-handed, aren’t you?” Ichigo gestures with his head towards my left arm. I clutch it, looking away. “Inoue, are you okay? I... I’m sorry... I was... I wanted--I couldn't--Yoruichi--but you... Are you--”

“I won’t ask how or  _ why _ you know that, ya creep, but... It’s pretty much inaccessible right now…” I laugh nervously, cutting him off. This was the second time my reiatsu spike had been brought up. Had they really felt it? I didn’t think it would be that noticeable, but apparently it was. “But forget about  _ me _ ! Now that we’re all here together, I think I can use my powers on all of you, if you huddle together  _ reeeal _ close, huh?” I look back at Uryu and the others.

“Don’t worry about us.” Sado speaks for the group, “Ichigo’s the one who needs it the most… or you, yourself.”

“If I could use these powers on myself, don’t you think I would have?” I chide, turning back to Ichigo. “I’ll do my best, but I don’t know what I’m capable of. I’m nearing my limit even with that break I had earlier… Ayame, Shun’o.”

The two fairies appear in front of me and I hold my arm out, “ _ Sōten Kesshun _ … I reject!” 

The two fairies for a barrier around Ichigo. The barrier doesn’t last long, breaking like glass and the two fairies return to my hairpins before I can say anything. I drop my hand, leaning heavily on it and panting. Sweat pours down my face—I hadn’t even been at it for more than a minute! I didn’t think I was so out of practice…

“H-Hoshiko-san!” Uryu kneels down beside me, worry and concern littered all over his tone. “Are you alright?”

“This… is gonna take longer than I thought… hehe…” I grin weakly at Uryu. “Sorry, Kurosaki… this is as much as I can do for now.” Ichigo sits up, clenching and unclenching his fist.

“This is more than enough for now. Don’t push yourself… you’ve been through it just as much as I have. Thank you, Inoue. Sado, could you?” Sado picks me up and I curl into his arms while Ganju helps carry Ichigo.

As the group gathers to leave, “W-Wait…” I weakly call out. “I… we should stay a moment.” I hadn’t healed Ichigo up as much as I’d wanted to, but he was healed up just enough that if it came down to it, he could possibly protect us.

I had focused on the larger injuries in that short amount of time, so I was able to at least close them up to where they were only a little scarred at the moment. Nothing fancy, but Ichigo would be able to move around if he needed to.

“Why?” Yachiru asks, tilting her head. “Why d’ya wanna stay here?”

“I…” I had to come up with a reason to stay here. I couldn’t come right out and say that I knew why. I look to Sado, my eyes pleading him to stay and he nods.

“It’s a special feeling.” Sado explains to them after a few moments. “Something will happen if we do.” Silently, I thank Sado. We really were one and the same—the one look at he knew exactly what I meant. I could count on him readily. “Good or bad, I don't know, but we should be here.”

“Well, let’s move away from here a little bit.” Ganju suggests. “Maybe over by the tree line?” The others agree and we move a little bit, hiding just behind the first row of trees.

“What’s this feeling of yours, Hoshiko-san?” Uryu queried, obviously curious. I shift slightly in Sado’s arms to look at Uryu.

“It’s just…” I sigh out. How would I explain this? I couldn’t say I could see into the future somewhat, that would make them accuse me of knowing this would happen to Rukia. What could I tell them? Only Sado understood what I meant, but Uryu was the type who wanted cold, hard facts and reasonings. He wanted logical explanations—which I could understand, but still.

In a world where Death Gods can summon pretty much magical swords, you weren’t getting much in the logic department.

“Wait.” Ganju holds up a hand and I’m saved, glad that the message has already started coming through. “Do you all hear that?”

“It’s Isane from fourth division!” Yachiru informs them, “She’s using a mental communication type of Kidō!”

“H-How?” Uryu turns to look at Yachiru. “How is she doing this?”

“Mmmm… if you’ve ever been healed by the fourth division, you’re gonna get the message.” Yachiru explains shortly. “There's a special healing Kidō they use that allows us all to be connected to receive announcements like this. It's quicker than usage of a Hell Butterfly.”

“That’s probably why I can’t hear anything,” I chime in, “I used bandages and got a shoddy patch job from a nine-year-old. So… what did she say?”

“She said… Aizen—the captain that was killed the other day—is alive and… he’s planning on coming here.” Uryu explained shortly. “We should go.”

“We can’t!” I argue, thrashing in Sado’s hold. “Don’t you feel that? Rukia… she’s back up here.”

Ichigo turns to face me, eyes wide. “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody was ready to see pissed off Ichigo but I'm like this boy barely has the capacity to breathe correctly atm so lmao we just get some nice concerned Ichigo and some plot.
> 
> Next time!:
> 
> "Aizen chuckles. “It’s a wonder he sent you as well—you’d think he’d keep you close at hand for what happened last time…”"


	26. Soul Society: The Rescue Arc: Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local Man Enlightens Children with Riveting Tale of How He Fooled Them All. More on this at 11.

**** With the realization that Rukia is indeed up on Sōkyoku Hill with us, we don’t waste any time in heading back towards where we initially met Ichigo. I’m worried—I hadn’t managed to heal Ichigo up as much as I wanted to, and I was worried something would happen to Rukia and him because of it. As we approach, we only get the tail end of Aizen’s speech to Renji about how he had fit into his plans.

“Rukia! Renji!” Ichigo calls out, running forward and disappearing in a flash of Shunpo, blocking Aizen’s blade from touching the pairi. A wave of energy passes through them, shooting outward and while it looks like Ichigo is struggling profusely--shaking and trying his hardest to keep the blade steady, Aizen looks completely calm, as if he was against a child—which, in a sense, he was.

Sado quickly puts me on my feet, “Sado, no!” I yelp out, trying to follow him, but Uryu pulls me back.

“Let him go.” Uryu grunts as Sado continues running towards the two with his arm pulled back and the moment he strikes, the black symbiote pours over his arm and slams into Aizen, but Aizen has blocked that as well. 

“Oh? Surprise attack? You'll have to do  _ much _ better than that.” Aizen sighs, pushing Sado as lightly as ever but somehow, Sado ends up in a heap of blood and pain and screams next to them.

“Sado!” Uryu and I brokenly scream, but Sado is still breathing and there's no way we can approach him now. Not while it feels like we’re being watched from every direction.

“Hey!” I call, waving my arm wildly. Renji sees me, though it’s clear he doesn’t recognize us. “Over here!” 

“Hoshiko!” Rukia cries out, small tears at the corner of her eyes. Rukia looks… much better than the rest of us. Renji still looks skeptical about coming over to us, but nonetheless, he moves towards us, upon Rukia’s prodding, only to be stopped by Gin, who points his sword at Renji, stopping him from moving.

“Now, I’m sorry, there, Aizen-sama.” Gin doesn’t sound the least bit apologetic—if anything, he sounds amused, “These kids… just like t’ get in all sorts o’ trouble… couldn’t keep ‘em at bay… They never left th’ Hill.”

Aizen chuckles, slashing through Ichigo like he’s nothing. Ichigo screams in pain, but Gin’s reiatsu keeps us pinned. Gin’s reiatsu, similar to how it was during our first meeting, does nothing to me, but I don’t move anyway—I can’t fight him as I am now—I would needlessly lose my life for doing so. Gin’s reiatsu falters when Renji drops Rukia onto the ground, almost as if he was shocked.

“Kurosaki,” Renji calls out, gripping his Zanpakutō. “I may not like you too much but we have a job to do!” Renji runs, charging at Aizen while Ichigo does the same. Aizen’s quick, easily dodging both of them and landing devastating blows on each of them. The two drop, grunting, nearly screeching in pain while Aizen flares his reiatsu in an obvious show of dominance.

It’s enough to bring the group to their knees. Mine wobble, but with Uryu’s help, I stay standing. Uryu, next to me, grips my numb left arm harshly, probably looking for solace or something to keep him grounded. I don’t blame him, this was… a lot. My vision blurs with unshed tears and I pant, the reiatsu in the air so heavy it’s hard to breath. It feels like I’m in space and underwater and in a sandstorm all at once. 

“This… is a king’s reiatsu…” I mumble helplessly. Gin has us guarded, so we can’t readily approach Rukia, and I don’t want to send Tsubaki out, since he’s already injured.

Would a shield work? I press a hand to my hairpins. “Ah-Ah…” Gin purrs, “You shouldn’t be goin’ ‘round thinkin’ ‘bout pickin’ fights with people way outta yer league…” I curse quietly, turning my gaze back to Aizen who is looking pointedly at us.

“You know,” His voice is big and powerful, commanding attention, “I really have to thank you all… my plan would never have come to fruition if it weren’t for all of you.” Aizen smiles at us, there doesn’t seem to be any ill intention behind the smile and I think that’s what scares me most. Aizen was a dangerous figure, yet he could make you feel as if he was your best friend—even as he tore out your throat. 

“From the moment you all entered here—from the West Rukongai? I had everything mapped out… using Shiba Kūkaku’s   _ Kakaku Hō _ to enter? A flashy entrance and you all wreaking havoc here in the Seireitei… it all helped my plans along further. Though, what a surprise you were.” He stares pointedly at me, “What did they call you? ...Ah yes,  _ Red Hanabi _ . It’s a familiar name, indeed. Your ability, or so I’ve heard, was the Sonic Scream, yes? Similar to someone else I knew.”

“Wh-What? What are you talking about?” My voice cracks at the raised sound. “Similar? What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you save the irrelevant questions for Kisuke, hm? He’s the one who helped you here, no? After all, West Rukongai  _ was _ his base of operations.” Aizen chuckles. “It’s a wonder he sent you as well—you’d think he’d keep you close at hand for what happened last time…”

Aizen’s words are cryptic, as usual for someone like him—but what did this mean? Was my being here really changing things? I don’t recall this ever being said to Inoue.

“What do you mean? How do you know Urahara?” Ichigo demands, though he’s pretty much broken and battered on the floor, gasping and wheezing.

“Oh? You don’t know?” There’s a light tilt to his voice, almost something like surprise as Aizen looks down at him, a look on his face too innocent for the crimes he’s committed. “Urahara Kisuke was a former captain of the Soul Society’s Gotei 13. Your run in with Mayuri should’ve helped you piece that together, hm, Red Hanabi?”

I grunt in acknowledgement. I can’t look away from him for fear that he might come over to me. He grips Rukia, who is still frozen, barely breathing under his spiritual pressure. “I’m surprised he didn’t tell you this, but then again, Kisuke  _ is _ somewhat of an enigma. He likes the mystery. Explains why he did not tell you anything either, Red Hanabi. A bad quality to have, one would say.”

“Ah, well, it doesn’t matter.” Aizen says, not even bothering to pause. “I’ll give you all a piece of information—the reason I’ve done all this. I’m sure we’re all more than curious about why I’ve decided to betray my so-called ‘comrades’. You should be so lucky as to know that I’ve prepared a speech for you. You know, back in my heyday, many students would  _ kill _ to have a seat in a lecture I taught. Consider yourselves among the top tier, since I am willingly allowing you to participate.”

“Get on with it then!” My voice is a lot more wobbly and cracky than I’d have liked it to be, but there’s a harshness to it that I like. “We don’t have all day!” Aizen looks pointedly at me and I freeze under his gaze. He lets the lightest, happiest smile cross his face.

“Yes, of course. And neither do I if I want to keep schedule.” Aizen shakes his head, as if he was dealing with a child. “Forgive me, while I’ve been the so-called ‘villain’ for a while, I’ve not had much practice at giving these ‘tell-all’ speeches they’re known for. Let’s begin, shall we? We all have limits—all four of our Shinigami abilities have defined limits and… I want to grow past them. And the only way to do so is to… grow past a Shinigami.”

“What do you mean?” Renji shouts, “Grow past a Shinigami? You aren’t making any sense!”

“That’s what I said, yes. I am making sense—you’re just choosing to reject me. To not open your mind to my ideals. That’s why I had you moved… As I was saying, to grow past a Shinigami…” Aizen confirms, “It is the next logical step in gaining power, no? The only way to do that is to… augment it by acquiring hollow powers. A hollow can grow and continue to morph and shift and change—it’s quite interesting, really—they are versatile and their power knows no bounds. Their only creed is ‘Survive, Adapt.’ They are very much unlike Shinigami, who are defined by human ideals and philanthropic morals and duties to beings who truly do not matter. Zanpakutō… Shikai, Bankai… Kido… They cannot grow outside their limits. They are rigid with rules, but Hollow…” Aizen breathes out in excitement, “Hollow are ever-changing. And that’s the power I want.”

“Hollow can… hide their reiatsu down to the tiniest of slivers… I’ve created them, I should know. There are hollow that can destroy Zanpakutō by just touching the owner—and hollow that can fuse with Shinigami. But… as well as my experiments went, they all ended up failing.” He shakes his head, “A part of life, I assume. All for the quest of power.”

“But…” Aizen continues, stroking Rukia’s cheek. “Where I failed… Kisuke succeeded! He created… the Hōgyoku—a device that  _ breaks down _ the barrier of rigid Shinigami rules and ever-changing hollow powers! It was strong—very strong and Kisuke wanted to destroy it. Too powerful, he said, but it wasn’t. It was…  _ just right _ . Needless to say, Kisuke hid the Hōgyoku so that people like me wouldn’t find it. But, even just creating it got him banished from the Soul Society—such genius, lost to the morals these  _ worthless  _ peasants have…”

At least he admits that he’s an asshole. I see Rukia shaking as Aizen trails his hand down her face. “But, the real question is… do you know where he hid it?” Aizen asked, though it didn’t seem like he was actually expecting an answer. Everyone is quiet, waiting for him to continue, but it seems obvious to everyone where Urahara put the Hōgyoku.

“…R-Rukia…” I quietly respond, eyes wide. Aizen turns to me, letting go of Rukia’s face to clap his hand against his arm, amused. “Inside Rukia...”

“Bravo!” He applauds, “You’re very smart, you know. Yes! Kisuke hid it inside of a special Gigai given to Kuchiki Rukia. This special Gigai would slowly turn her into a human and make her undetectable. The Hōgyoku would be safe… forever. Well, safe, unless I hadn’t known about it.”

My gaze slowly shifts from Aizen to everyone else. Renji and Ichigo are lying on the ground, heavily injured but I don’t see a real threat to their lives right now. Nevertheless, I had to get over there and heal them after this was over—I was sure I could muster that much up for them. 

Aizen launches into another long winded spiel and I look to Sado. His breathing is even and I'm unsure if he's awake or unconscious. His reiatsu is as small as ever and luckily, Aizen hasn't tried to end him. Maybe he thinks Sado is close to death, so he'd rather let him waste away than expend effort on it? The thought made my blood boil. I'd have to heal Sado soon.

Behind me, Ganju and Aramaki are both on the ground, in varying degrees of pain under the weight of Aizen’s pressure. Aramaki is close to unconsciousness and Ganju is on his hands and knees. I can hear him coughing and retching behind us. Yachiru is quiet, though not unaffected by it. She stands easily, though there is a shake in her legs.

Uryu and I stand as well, though Uryu looks as if the only thing keeping him awake and standing is the grip he has on my left arm. He’s sweating, the sweat drenches his uniform, but he’s not the only one. I can feel cold sweats running down my back from Aizen’s great pressure. I look down, noting the blood smeared across my palm from where I had dug my fingernails into it. I was shaking, but I wasn’t crying out of fear from his pressure, so that was good.

A large slam draws my attention and I automatically throw up my shield, watching the split-second decision Aizen makes combat whoever that was attacking him. The dust clears and settles somewhat, showing us Komamura in a battle of wills with Aizen, who has blocked his Zanpakutō bare-handed. 

It finally sinks in just how  _ out of our league _ we are. Aizen can easily kill us—but he decides not to, instead toying with his prey… allowing them to lead themselves into a false sense of security. He explained his entire plan to us—probably to gloat and then finally kill us… and with only Komamura here to potentially protect us, we were going to die. 

With Aizen’s attention on Komamura, who has launched into a speech about how Aizen will not be forgiven, I can feel my breathing return somewhat to normal and it seems like everyone comes back to life. There’s panting and gasping and breathing as we watch Komamura and Aizen… and Tosen. 

“Don’t you realize, Komamura? You’re heavily outnumbered and outclassed… Hadō! Number 90!  _ Kurohitsugi _ !” Aizen calls out, a slew of black lined with purple energy leaving his palm and forming around Komamura. 

It just a little taller than Komamura, locking him inside a box and several spear-like particles of energy strike the box. There’s a muffled sound of pain coming from inside the box.

“Wow…” Gin whistles, “Yer pretty cool usin’ a level 90 like dat.” 

“Hardly.” Aizen scoffs, “That was only a third of its full power without the incantation. But once I break the barrier… something like this should be no problem.” He turns on Rukia. “I’m going to cut this short—I can feel various energies coming to converge on us and I don’t really want that. As much as I’d have loved to give my whole speech, it seems that time is not on my side. I will confirm somethings for all of you, however: I did, in fact, massacre the Central 46--they were positively useless anyway, aside from their ability to make laws and rules,  _ then _ I used my Zanpakutō ability to make everyone believe that they were operating normally and made the decision to go along with her execution. The execution was necessary, in order to remove the Hōgyoku from you.”

“So, faking my death—well, that made it easier to move around, but things don’t always go to plan, do they? I knew that there was a chance that the execution would fail… or you Ryoka would actually save her, so I had to act accordingly, correct? Though I assumed that course of action was the least likely, but... ahem.” Aizen pulls out a strange, small capsule and breaks it open, dropping it onto the ground. “This… is another invention by Kisuke. Don’t you just  _ love _ how handy he is?”

I was going to kick Urahara’s ass when I got back for making all of this shit. No wonder he got banished. There was a thin line between what you COULD do and what you SHOULD do, and it looked like Urahara loved crossing it back and forth. I hope he was lamenting on what he did. Out of the capsule comes six, large green spines that come up out the ground, creating somewhat of a barrier around Aizen and Rukia. 

“This will, in layman’s terms, give me the ability to pierce the soul and take out the Hōgyoku. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt… much.”

Aizen’s arm changes to the same greenish color of the spikes. Pink-ish lightning sparks between the spikes and he thrusts his hand into her chest. Rukia’s scream is abruptly cut off as her eyes go dark when he thrusts his hand inside her. 

“R-Rukia!” I try to move forward, only to be smacked back by Gin.

“Ah-Ah… yer some hardy li’l ones, ain’t ya?” Gin clicks his tongue as Aizen pulls out the Hōgyoku. Rukia falls limply to the ground and the spikes fade away, leaving Aizen clutching the Hōgyoku, a look of triumph on his face.

“Gin,” Aizen calls out. “Why don’t you go ahead and kill Rukia? I have no use for her. The others as well, while you’re at it.” Aizen holds out Rukia and I move, pushing Uryu back. It’s my only chance to do something. I wobble and trip, slamming into Gin’s back just as he releases his Zanpakutō. He falters, surprised and misses slightly, only scratching… Byakuya. 

“Oh thank  _ god _ .” I breathe out, only realizing the danger I'm in when I feel Gin’s spiritual pressure. Though there’s something muted about it.

“Oh, yer  _ real _ hardy. I don’t think I like dat…” Gin turns on me, intent to attack, but there’s also some delay in his movements, as if he’s... not willing to attack me.

“Why didn’t you stop him?” I whisper, glaring at Gin. “You put this huge burden on me, and you did nothing yourself! I nearly got decimated at the fuckin’ hands of Mayuri to try and stop this thing and what did you do? Absolutely nothing.”

He falters for a moment, his Zanpakutō still drawn.  _ “...Hidori, I--”  _

“Save it, I don’t wanna hear an excuse, you  _ coward _ .” I back up, trying to form my shield, but I don’t have to. Someone pulls me away from him, a tall woman stands in front of me. She blocks my view of most everything, her reiatsu flaring, though it’s not as strong as Gin’s, despite it being somewhat muted.

“Look who it is.” The woman sneers, staring directly at Gin. His gaze falters even more, the smile nearly slipping off his face in the presence of the woman. I then notice that Yoruichi and the other captains and lieutenants have arrived, cornering Aizen and his comrades. “Give it up, Gin. ...You’ve been caught.”

Kūkaku and Jidanbō are there as well—having entered and made a large explosion along with various other Shinigami—and for a moment, I believe Yoruichi when she loudly proclaims that Aizen has nowhere to escape, with Zanpakuto and the like pointed at him and Gin. But Aizen’s laugh makes relief stop cold in my body. It’s not cynical or bitter—it’s full of amusement. He’s still toying with us. Aizen had plans upon plans upon plans—he had a contingency plan for every possible outcome. We were outmatched… we were outclassed.

“Back away!” Yoruichi warns everyone as a large columns of yellow-orange energy shoots down from the sky, effectively trapping Aizen, Gin and Tosen in a square-shaped beam of light. “It’s… Negación!” Yoruichi informs us. The woman who had rescued me from Gin has picked me up and we back up far enough away from Gin. I throw up a shield, just in case and we watch as the former captains ascend into the sky.

“Tosen!” Komamura screeches into the sky, “Where is your sense of justice? How could you? What would you say to your friend?”

“It follows the path of the least bloodshed, Komamura… surely you understand?”

“Aizen! How could you join the Menos? Have you no shame?” Ukitake yells up at him at the same time Komamura does. They’re slow ascending, but nobody touches the columns of light, for fear of getting injured. If it wasn’t calling for you, you would get seriously hurt trying to stop it.

Aizen barks out a sharp laugh, “Of course you wouldn’t understand, Ukitake.” Aizen pushes back his hair, taking off his glasses and crushing them within his grip, “I need to keep clawing my way to the top. And I’ll do  _ anything _ to get there. It looks like my time has come. I bid you all farewell… to you, Gotei 13; you, Kurosaki Ichigo and  _ you _ … Inoue Hoshiko. Do say hello to Kisuke for me and give him my  _ many _ thanks.”

My blood runs cold at the mention of my name. Aizen was a lot trickier than I thought. It was entirely plausible that Aizen had plans for me already. But when he would actually set them in motion… was hard to say. “Aizen, you motherfucker!” I shout, surprising those around me, “You’re a piece of shit!” Even if I can’t fight him at the moment, that doesn’t mean I can’t insult him.

The moment he’s gone, it’s almost like everyone can breathe again and activity explodes up on Sōkyoku Hill. In a matter of moments, the fourth division arrives on the scene. The woman puts me down, steadying me when I wobble slightly. “Tha-Thank you.” I bow, despite knowing I shouldn’t, not with the bandages around my middle.

She smiles and I recognize her as Matsumoto Rangiku, though there isn't much time to be star struck about it. “Not a problem.” She says, “You should get checked out. You’re looking…” The rest went unsaid, but I knew exactly what she meant.

“I will, in a minute.” I look towards the others, gesturing for them to follow me and pick my way over to Ichigo, who is still lying on the ground, breathing heavily. 

“Treat the Ryoka as well on Captain Commander and Captain Unohana’s orders!” Someone shouts, “They are the new Saviors of the Soul Society!” I don’t pay them any mind and come to sit down in front of Ichigo. I already see Sado being taken care of by someone else and I don't think I can get all the way over to where Jidanbō had brought him, seeing as the large man is hovering over Sado.

“You dumbass…” I scold him, shaking my head. “Always rushing off with no plan! Even taking Sado with you this time!”

“Sorry…” Ichigo chuckles, “...Is Rukia okay?”

“In better shape than you’ll ever be. She's worrying about Byakuya. So I guess that leaves me to worry about your stupid ass.” I reply, looking over at her. She hovers around Byakuya who is being surveyed by a fourth division member. “ _ Sōten Kesshun _ ! I reject!” I muster up the strength to use Ayame and Shun’o.

“Inoue, stop! You’re going to hurt yourself!” Ichigo protests and tries to move, but ultimately fails. Even if he was able to, I wouldn't listen anyway. This is what I came to do, and dammit, I was going to do something only I could do. “I know I’m the shittiest at sensing energies, but even I can tell that you’re pretty much running on sheer willpower!”

“I saved this little bit of reiatsu just to heal you, dumbass, so take it or I’ll beat you.” I threaten. Ichigo goes quiet, staring up at the sky as I feel someone approach. “C’mon, guys, work with me...”

“Inoue…” Ichigo quietly repeats. 

I grin, sticking my hand through the barrier to ruffle his hair, “Just shut up and let me do my job.”

“What do we do now?’ Uryu asks from my left. I hadn’t even seen him come over or knew what happened to him after I pushed him over to attack Gin.

“You’ll all heal up here. None of you are in any shape or form to travel.” A much more mature and gentle female voice answers for me. I turn slightly, noting Unohana for the first time. She's a really tall woman, I can tell even from where I'm kneeling and she easily surpasses Uryu's height. She has a calming, yet menacing presence and it makes all three of us tense up. Uryu moves closer towards us, a defensive stance in the making by the way he shifts. I stop healing for a moment and she smiles, though it's somewhat cold and doesn't fully reach her eyes or most of her mouth. “Your power is impressive. But… why heal others when you need medical attention yourself?”

“Ah… my powers don’t work like that.” I rub the back of my head sheepishly and stand. Sitting was making me tired and I needed to finish. “If I could heal me, I would, but then again, Kurosaki and the others need it more than me.”

“Interesting…” Unohana watches me. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see your power in action again.”

“Yeah, I’ll get right back on it.” I turn a little too quickly and sway. “S-Sō…” I feel myself lurch forward and hear sounds of panic and surprise as I slam against Ichigo.

How embarrassing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAHWAH WAAAH. HERE WE GO. And with THAT, SOUL SOCIETY IS OVER. Well, for the most part. We still have some cleaning up to do. It's important, purposeful filler, you understand, yes. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, if not, Happy Holidays!!!


	27. Soul Society: The Recovery Arc: Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WH AT IS TH IS ??? A DOUBLE UPLOAD ??? I'm CRAZY. But I'm also on break and this is my merry Christmas to y'all. Maybe I'll do an actual Christmas special in the side stories, idk. But for now, let's get into this filler arc!

 

When I wake up, I feel… better, unlike when I woke up after my fight with Mayuri. I feel different. I look up, taking in the room that I’m in. The windows are open and the curtains are drawn back, letting in a lot of sunlight and there are flowers all over the place, making the room seem a lot brighter. I also note that a good portion of them are red. Go figure.

I turn my gaze towards the woman who is also in the room with me.

She is frozen there, caught between surprise and shock, probably at me being up. Jeez, how long had I been out? Her eyes are wide as she stares at me, and I stare blankly at her.

“H-Hello?” My voice is hoarse, almost unsounding like my own. It’s dry and cracked-sounding—reminding me of a prepubescent boy finally undergoing puberty.

“She… She’s awake! Awake!” The woman repeats, running out of the room and into the hall. “Get the captain! The Ryoka girl is awake!”

After the nurse had run out of the room, it didn’t take but a few minutes before Unohana returns with her, introducing herself and the lieutenant—Isane Kotetsu—as she checks me over with a glowing palm.

“How long have I been out?” I croak out, staring up at the woman and trying to get used to my voice. Unohana pulls away from me, telling Isane something quietly before turning back to me, a calming smile on her lips.

“Around three and a half days.” She tells me. So Nemu was right—I would be out for three days. “Most of your injuries are healed and your Reiryoku is being replenished, _slowly_ . However there _will_ be scars. The poisons in your system are finally cleared out, so we can all rest a little easier. You had us worried for a bit with the poison but somehow, it cleared up on its own around the second day.”

I slowly lift the sleeve of my left arm and note the scar. It’s long, spreading from my inner elbow to near my wrist, with slits across it sideways, obviously from the stitches they’d used. I don’t see them, which means they probably used dissolvable stitches.

It was, needless to say, pretty cool to look at. My first, real badass scar. I should probably check the rest of my body later to see if I have anymore.

The Soul Society really was efficient with their healing techniques. The only real difference between my healing and theirs was the fact that I didn’t leave behind scars when I healed.

“…How do you feel about walking?” Unohana then asks, surveying me. “If you aren’t ready, then just say so.”

“And if I am?” It comes out harsher than I mean it to. “O-Oh, I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean it like that… uh, do I have to move or something?” Unohana only chuckles, shaking her head. Were they moving me because I was awake now?

“The Captain Commander has been on standby about all of your conditions—your friends are mostly healed. They've been up since yesterday and the day before.” Unohana informs me, “We were merely waiting for you to wake up.”

I clench and unclench my fist, testing it. It feels much, much better than it did a few days ago. I move the blanket, swinging my feet over the edge and pressing them against the cold, wooden floor.

I stand, slowly at first until I’m fully on my feet. Isane comes to my side, ready to assist me if need be. I take a few steps, gingerly and slowly. “I… I think I’m fine to move for now.” I turn back, looking at Unohana. “I can go see the Captain Commander.”

“Isane, will you prepare some clothing for Inoue-san? I will go inform the Captains and your friends that you’re up.” Unohana leaves Isane alone with me and the girl sighs, shaking her head.

“You’ve really be through the wringer…” Isane comments, “I’m so, so sorry for what you had to go through. Dealing with Captain Mayuri first hand…”

I don’t respond at first—I don’t know what to say. What can I say anyway? I did deal with Mayuri first hand, but the memory was fading and I wasn’t sure if it was just because I was up. Either way, I still didn’t want to think about that night.

“Is… Mayuri… going to be there?” I ask her. Isane looks as if she had been waiting for the question and sighs, nodding.

“Unfortunately… he is still very much a captain…” Isane puts a hand on my shoulder. “As much as we want to protest it for your mental and physical health… he was merely doing his job at the time—protecting Soul Society from an invading force… And… We can’t exactly hold a meeting without him. I’m sorry, Inoue-san.”

“No, it’s not your fault. You’re right…” I just had to suck it up. The meeting would be quick if I showed I wasn’t all the way healed up—then maybe Unohana would end it quickly and return me to my room.

“Well!” Isane claps, trying to lighten the mood, “I’ll… go get you a uniform.” She leaves me alone in the room and I sit down on the edge of the bed. Three and a half days I’d been out. I wonder what the others had been doing during this time… and what the Captain Commander would want with all of us. What else did he have to say to us?

Maybe he would apologize for following the rules to too much of a T and for injuring us so greatly. Apologies meant nothing to me unless he was willing to change things. Hopefully Ichigo would help change his mind. I knew that I would try, but Ichigo did most of the heavy battling, so his words probably had more weight than mine.

Isane returns around the same time as Unohana and helps me dress. I don’t bother trying to do anything with my hair, leaving it down and messy and Unohana has me grab hold of her, using the rather advanced Shunpo to reach the Captain’s Meeting Room in no time.

“Hoshiko-san!” Uryu’s voice cuts through the slight sickness of moving so fast. I don't like Shunpo, I'll say it now. It's awful.

“Guys!” I feel a smile make its way onto my face despite the uneasiness I feel from moving so fast.

Uryu stands with Sado and Ganju, though Yoruichi and Ichigo are nowhere in sight. I don’t worry about them, though and I run to Uryu and Sado slamming into Uryu and nearly knocking him down. It was good to see some familiar faces after so long, and it was clear the sentiment was shared.

But… That was a bad decision. I definitely couldn’t move more than a slow walk right now. Sado picks us up spinning the two of us around with a tighter grip than he probably should have and drops us upon Unohana clearing her throat.

Ichigo approaches, placing his hand on my head and ruffling my hair. “I thought you were Renji for a minute.” Ichigo jokes. I punch his arm, frowning. “The hair threw me off.”

“We look nothing alike—for one, _I’m_ cuter!” I throw my hands up. Ichigo chuckles, shaking his head.

“Watch it, brat.” Renji appears behind us, frowning. “You’ll do well to take that back.”

The Captain Commander clears his throat, eyeing us all. The room falls silent and I realize that all of the captains and lieutenants who were able to be there were watching us. I try not to notice Mayuri’s gaze and instead focus on the Captain Commander.

“Okay,” I break the silence, “As much as I _love_ the attention, I’m gonna have to start charging per minute _per eyeball_ with a base rate of one hundred. Can we get down to the what’s up?”

“Hoshiko-san!” Uryu scolds me, frowning, “You’re talking to the leader of the Seireitei! Show some respect.”

I love how Uryu is acting as if a week ago we hadn’t broken into this place trying to rescue someone from execution. And like he isn't a Quincy. What a stickler for the rules. Aizen probably hates guys like him.

“Calm down, Uryu.” I slap his back, “He’ll be fine. He probably didn’t even hear me—he looks ancient, maybe his hearing is gone.”

“Cute and snarky to boot, it’s a wonder you’re Urahara’s student.” Someone to my left says, turning my head slightly, I see Kyōraku eyeing me.  If I was into guys with long hair... “How is that old bastard anyway?”

“Constantly getting on my nerves.” I reply, shrugging, “He’s _so_ gonna owe me for doing all this.” Kyōraku chuckles, shaking his head.

“Thank you for joining us.” The Captain Commander finally begins, probably fed up with the constant bickering. “I hope that your recoveries are going well.” The group of us nod, “First, I’d like to introduce myself to what are hopefully our new comrades. I am the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 and Captain of the First Division, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. And on myself and the other captains’ behalf, I would like to formally thank you for what you’ve done—it would have been a devastating loss to lose Kuchiki Rukia due to a grievous error we made.”

Yeah, it was real damn grievous, alright. I move to say something, but Uryu’s hand on my wrist stops me. I guess he was the level-headed one of the group now. I should probably listen to him… “Your arrival has brought to light the betrayal of three of our captains, so I would like to thank you all for that as well.”

“We were only here for Rukia, but I guess it’s alright that we exposed your secrets like this.” Ichigo crossed his arms, staring straight at the Captain Commander. “…What do you plan on doing about Aizen?” It was the big question that I was sure was on all of our minds.

“We… cannot locate him at the moment.” The Captain Commander admits, “While it has been three days since he had left us, we believe that he still might be in the Garganta… his current destination is unknown… but we have an inkling as to where he might be headed. However, while we try to find him, there is really nothing we can do at the moment.”

“So, you’re just gonna let him fester.” I speak up, gaze sweeping across the captains and lieutenant, taking care to avoid looking at Mayuri, “You’re just gonna leave him out there with the Hōgyoku—similar to a bowl of cereal, with the milk poured in.”

“Wh-What?” The Captain Commander’s lieutenant speaks, confused. “What does that…?”

“I mean, you’re gonna leave him out there like a bowl of cereal that’s been left out, for like, an hour so it gets soggy and nasty, and hard to clean.” I explain a little better. It’s clear the group of them are unsure what to make of my comparison. I see a couple of them chuckle at it. At least someone found humor in my words.

“The… comparison is _odd_ ,” The Captain Commander holds a hand up to his lieutenant to stop him, “But it is not untrue. While we locate Aizen and try to figure out what he will do with the Hōgyoku next, we will be vigilant, lest he attack again.”

“Okay, so…” I start, “What do we do? I mean… with the way Aizen was talkin’ to us, it’s clear this ain’t just a _y’all_ problem. This is an _Us_ Problem. And Us need to know what to do about this massive dildo—!”

“ _Inoue_!” Ichigo smacks my arm, “Watch your language.” He pointedly eyes Yachiru and I roll my eyes. Everyone in this room was at least hundreds of years older than us, despite the way they looked.

“Oh, you were thinking it _too_!” I retort hotly, glaring at Ichigo. He doesn’t say anything more, only runs a hand through his hair, but his face is pink and so are his ears. Oh, Kurosaki, you make it so easy. “Everyone here is old enough to know what that is, Kurosaki. I'd have called him a dick, but I don't think he deserves the compliment.”

“She’s right, though—about the us problem… well, about both, I guess.” Sado finally speaks, “Aizen is also a problem we have to deal with as well—just from his words… it seems like he’s got plans for us. They may not be put into action yet, but he still plans to involve us in whatever he is going to do next.”

“This is true…” Captain Commander strokes his beard, surveying us. “However, as I have said, there is nothing we can do now. What you all must do is focus on your recovery in order to make your way back to the Human World. For now, what I have told you is everything we know about the matter. We are attempting to reach out to Urahara Kisuke to see what he knows on the matter as well… If anything arises between now and then, you will be informed. May we… count on you in the future?”

“Yes.” Ichigo covers my mouth before I can say anything more. I lean on Ichigo, just standing is making me kind of… tired. Maybe I wasn’t ready to be here. “You can count on us _—all_ of us.” Ichigo wraps his arm around my shoulders, trying to keep me upright.

“Thank you.” The Captain Commander bows his head. “The meeting, for now, is adjourned. I merely wanted to update the Ryoka and our remaining Captains on the situation and would rather update everyone all at once.”

“Inoue-san, we’ll be heading back to your room now.” Unohana appears next to me, her cold hand on my shoulder. “It appears that this whole ordeal has made you tired.”

“Yeah…” I laugh tiredly, “I didn’t even really do anything, but I guess that’s what happens when you wake up from a poison-induced coma.”

Unohana chuckles slightly, “I can handle her, Kurosaki-san.”

“It’s no problem.” Ichigo hefts me up, lifting me into his arms and looking at Unohana. The others stand behind him, somewhat of a protective barrier around the two of us. I guess even while I tried to avoid looking at or thinking about Mayuri, my reiatsu was still spiking just by him being in the room. “We’ll follow you, Unohana.”

“If you insist.” Unohana relents without much prodding from the group. She bows to the Captain Commander before exiting the room via the doors.

“I can walk, you know.” I cross my arms. “How weak do I look, needing to be carried around like this?”

“Shut up, yeah?” Ichigo frowns at me. “Sado was carrying me around just yesterday, so you aren’t the only one who has been receiving such treatment.” Sado nods, confirming Ichigo’s statement.

“You really have a thing for large men, huh? With Tessai and all.” I snicker. Ichigo blushes hotly, sputtering out.

Speaking of Tessai, I wondered how everyone was doing, I missed them something terribly.

I missed the life we had before and I wanted to get back to it quickly. I needed to recover enough for Unohana to let us go back without any problems. When we leave the building that houses more than one or two meeting rooms, Unohana turns to us.

“Are all of you coming with me, or is it only Kurosaki-san?” Ichigo puts me down and I lean heavily on him, though I’m feeling much better by not being in Mayuri’s presence.

“I’ll just go. I’m the only one who knows Shunpo anyway.” Ichigo volunteers. “We’ll catch up with you guys later.” Sado and Uryu look as if they want to protest, but nonetheless nod, saying that they’ll just go find Yoruichi and Unohana turns, using Shunpo to disappear before our very eyes.

“I’ll see you guys after I take another two-day nap, okay? Maybe I’ll be good enough to cook us up something hm?” I tell Uryu and Sado, who still look as if they want to go with us.

“I’ll hold you to it.” Sado ruffles my hair. “Rest well, Hoshiko.”

“Yes, have a nice, long rest, Hoshiko-san. You deserve it.” Uryu agrees. Ichigo doesn’t wait and picks me up again. We disappear in a flash.

* * *

In the room, I am left alone after Ichigo drops me off, though he seemed rather reluctant to go, the way he lingered in the room, finding small things to do (stuff I didn't even really need done) and in the way I could feel his reiatsu signature hover just around the door for the ten or so minutes Unohana had gone. Unohana tells me that I am under guard, as she doesn’t readily trust Mayuri—she never did and this just gives her more reason to not like him— so I must be watched, just in case he still wants to experiment on me. Which I'm more than thankful for. I'm glad they're taking the precautions I feel they should be.

“I’ve put limiters on you,” She taps the thick cuff bracelets on my wrists, “It was the only way to calm you down.”

“Calm me down?” I tilt my head, staring up at her. “Calm me down from what?”

“Your reiatsu. It was harming you.” Unohana taps her ear, “You were screaming uncontrollably. It was hard to even get near you, everyone who tried ended up injured. Your reiatsu… mixed with whatever fail safes Urahara put into those bracelets of yours made it nearly impossible to get to you.”

“How… did you know it was Mayuri?” I ask her. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, and I doubted that the members of the eleventh division would have told her.

“Surprisingly…” She speaks, as if she can’t believe it either, “Kenpachi told me.” I blink, looking up at her in disbelief. “He said something about owing you for something and told me what his subordinates told him when they found you the night before the execution day.”

“I… see…” I look down at my lap. I guess Kenpachi wasn’t an awful guy—he did have some morals, however small they were. At least he seemed to think that me 'leading' him to Ichigo was worth telling someone about my trauma.

“We’re here to help you as best we can, Inoue-san. But some things… you can only heal on your own.” Unohana pats my head, “Physical injuries are much, much easier to deal with than mental injuries.” She moves towards the door, pausing in the doorframe. “But that does not mean they are impossible to heal.” She tells me to rest more and leaves me alone in my room.

I stare out the window. It’s hard to believe just three days ago, we were considered enemies of the Seireitei and now we were being regarded as heroes. It was crazy how quickly things changed, but I wasn’t unhappy about it. Contrary, I was glad for it. Even if it was just because everyone else and I needed actual medical attention and now we could receive it. But it was better to have more allies than enemies.

Recovery would take a while—despite a good portion of my wounds healing, I was still considered Reiryoku-exhausted and Unohana was right on the money when she said I had some mental damage—of course, while I was awake, I could keep the thoughts at bay, but I couldn’t do it forever. I needed to confront my fears—as awful as they were—and get over it. I’d be of no use to anyone afraid to die and afraid of Mayuri, even if the fears were justified.

When we got back, there was still going to be a lot to deal with.

Like Urahara.

What was I going to say to him? What was he going to say to _me_? I had questions—why did Aizen recognize me? Who did he think I was? It was clear that my being here did change things—but how? Was there more to this story than originally thought? There wasn’t much known about Urahara’s past—just that he was friends with Yoruichi (who I still haven’t seen) and that she helped get him his positions.

Was there more to it than that? And what of the Hōgyoku? Aizen… he… he knew a _lot_ more than he was letting on. And at the time, I should’ve pressed him more. He was willing to share—since he over shared about his entire plan, with a little more prodding, I was sure he would have given up the ghost and told me what I wanted to know.

Now I had to wait and see if Urahara would tell me—and who knows if he would? Hell, who knew what would happen when we got back. What if he refused to train me because of all this? Or practically disowned me? It was scary to think about. “Urahara’s not like that…” I try to assure myself, pulling my knees into my chest.

My eye catches on the bracelet Jinta and Ururu gave me. “He’s… he wouldn’t.” I say firmer this time. “There’s no way.”

“I told you he was… kind of sketchy.” Tsubaki’s voice is hoarse, like mine and he sits on the blanket in front of me, looking no worse for wear than before. Part of his wing was still missing, but it looked to be returning at a slow pace.

“Tsubaki…” My eyes water. The rest of the fairies join him on the blanket. “You guys…”

“How is recovering going?” Shun’o asks, looking me over. “Tsubaki’s is going slow…”

“I thought I’d have to use you guys to heal him.” I tilt my head, wiping my eyes.

“We can heal naturally as you do sometimes… especially if the damage isn’t too great, which luckily, Tsubaki only managed to clip his wing.” Lily informs me. “However, it takes just as long as you do, but it’s the best way to avoid you throwing around Reiryoku you don’t need to. Besides, even if you had the energy to repair Tsubaki, he probably would’ve refused. Prideful like that.”

“If I could, I’d smack you.” Tsubaki threatens. I watch the fairies interact, smiling.

“We survived.” I say, cutting through their banter. “We made it… I mean, not without our injuries, but we lived to tell the tale.”

“W-We did…” Ayame agrees, “B-But, Hoshiko… A-Are you alright?” The question catches me off guard and I blink. I was healing just fine, but… “I-I m-mean… th-that night…” Ayame presses her sleeves against her eyes, “I-I know you don’t wanna talk about it… b-but… maybe it will h-help?”

“No,” I say firmly. “I don’t want to talk about it yet. If I… If I tell anyone, it would be Urahara. Maybe… maybe he can just erase the memories for me when I’m better.” It was an idea—I didn’t know if it’d work, but it was still an idea that I had. “I don’t want anyone pitying me or worrying needlessly about it. I… I’m fine for now, so we can deal with it later.” I look out the window, “We should probably get some rest. I dunno if it matters or not, but you can stay out if you want—I don’t promise to stay stationary, I move a lot in my sleep.”

The fairies don’t seem to want to let the topic drop, but do so anyway. Ayame and Tsubaki take a place up near my head while the others seem to prefer spreading out down near the edge of the bed.

It’s easy to fall asleep, but it’s not easy to keep myself from having those dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, have a Happy Holiday, guys! And I'll see y'all in the new year!!


	28. Soul Society: The Recovery Arc: Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybody helps Hoshiko recover from herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, went in a little bit of a different direction with this chapter. Dunno if I wrote this correctly but it's what I came up with. I liked it, but lemme know what y'all think. 2018, how's it been ???

 

Every night and day passed the same since meeting with the Captain Commander. Nightmares of Mayuri… daydreams of Aizen. I was tormented by my own thoughts of either of them coming to pick me off. Mayuri, for my powers and Aizen… well, I wasn’t sure what Aizen knew about me. All I knew was that it wasn’t good.

I was at a loss of what to do. I was so… frightened by it all. Nothing could assure me. Uryu visited often, but I didn’t have much to say. I just stared blankly, mostly because Uryu was so full of pity. All he wanted to do was apologize—I appreciated it, but he had nothing to apologize for. So, we didn’t speak. He didn’t know what to do on our visits and busied himself with making sure I had enough of this or that. He was the real Team Mom, I had to admit, always looking out for us.

“And you?” I’d asked him, “How are  _ you _ ? We keep talking about me and everything… but you guys are just as important. And I… I worry.”

Uryu didn’t know what to say. He didn’t cry, but he looked close to it. He tells me he’s relieved we’re all alright and hopes that we make it home soon. 

I don't know about Uryu’s predicament. He feels... weaker for some reason, like he's not at full power all the way or even a sliver of the usual confident hiding of his power. Uryu feels strangely human and despite the progress we’ve made towards a friendship, I know we’re leaps and bounds away from him telling me anything else. 

Uryu is... different, changed. Whether it's the scar on his chin that he should not have—and does not let me heal, or the way his reiryoku signature is so weak, I do not know—Uryu is different but it's not enough to speak about it.

“I… kind of miss my dad.” Uryu confesses quietly, then looks up, as if he wants to take it back, but I smile.

“Yeah, mine too.” I agree, though I don’t know if Uryu knows who I’m talking about. Uryu leaves shortly after that.

Sado visits often too—usually coming just as Uryu leaves to do something else. We sit in silence. Sado and I have this kind of…  _ connection _ . Not like soulmates or anything like that, but kind of like… kindred spirits? Something deep like a bond between twins or something. We don’t need to speak. Everything is based on feelings, unspoken words and thoughts, and his are similar to Uryu’s though he tries to hide it. But even this isn't enough to make me... I don't know, feel the need to get better. Sado coddles me, similar and yet different to Uryu and though I can't complain about it, I don't think it's what I need right now.

Sado sneaks me food that I’m not supposed to eat, though I’m sure Isane—who is usually guarding me—sees him bring me chicken and rice and steak and other things from the cafeteria every time he comes.

Sado watches me eat, and I know that he’s recovering well. He looks healthier.

_ How are you? _

_ Recovering, and you? _

_ Better.  _

Sado is not a man of many words, but his actions convey his meaning more than anything. He treats me kind of like a younger sibling. Ruffling my hair, braiding it or combing through it silently when I offer him the brush they’d given me, giving me the bigger portions of the food he sneaks in. Sado doesn’t make it awkward like Uryu and Rukia do. I can feel his worry, and I know he feels mine, but he does not push or act upon it and neither do I.

Sado does not pity me, though. He does not look too sorry about what I’ve been through. He does not pry or ask questions he shouldn’t, unless he knows he’ll get an answer and I give him the same luxury. This is how we work, somewhat symbiotic, achieving similar goals by working together, but never having to speak too much.

It’s nice being around Sado, but still, it is not enough.

I am healing, but it is slow, and I still have nightmares, but they are few and far in between now, being comforted with familiar presences.

Rukia stops by too—on the fourth day of me being awake and by the way she acts, it’s clear it took her a lot to work up the courage to come see me. She fidgets, nervous as she stands at the door, her eyes trained on the ground. It takes a couple of tries before she sits at my bedside. 

Though I hold nothing against her, she cries at my bedside, tears falling down her face in large rivers as she sobs out apology after apology. She blames herself for everything, though it has nothing to do with her—at least the majority of my personal injuries don’t. They were borne of my carelessness and my choices. She tells me that she wishes things didn’t turn out like this and says we should have never met.

“Don’t  _ ever _ .” I stare her dead in the eye, “Don’t ever say that again.” Tears still fall freely from her eyes and I wipe them. “I made the decision to come here and I knew it wouldn’t be all peaches and cream. Things could have been avoided, but this is the path I took. And I never want you to  _ ever _ say that we shouldn’t have met. You’re my important friend, Rukia. One of my best friends.”

A whole fresh new wave of tears falls from Rukia’s eyes and she hugs me, apologizing for saying that. “Maybe later on… we can make cookies again?” I suggest. “Lord knows I’m tired of this bland diet of recovery they have me on.” Rukia nods feverishly and leaves, behind called away for some duty or another.

I didn’t feel like doing much in the time after Rukia had visited me. I just... I don’t even know how to describe it. I hadn’t called the fairies out, I hadn’t tried to use my powers at all. Was I... was I afraid to do it? Was I afraid that something would happen? I wasn’t sure, I didn’t know, but I still didn’t test my powers out.

Maybe this would be my first and last adventure. No, they needed me... but still. I don’t know if I could keep doing... this. Ichigo seemed fine, Sado and Uryu too. So why was it that I seemed to be the only one affected so harshly by this?

I turn on my side, puffing out air loudly. I didn’t want to think about this right now. I would hold it off until we were able to return home.

And then, two days later, Ichigo barges into my room. The door slams open and then slams closed once he's stepped out of its range.

He looks upset, somehow, but I can’t understand why. He marches right up to me and I stare at him curiously. “Inoue, what’s  _ wrong _ with you?” He asks me, “The others said you were so… so  _ quiet _ .”

“I… I dunno.” I shrug. What can I say? I just didn’t feel like talking. I didn’t feel like anything. I just…  _ was _ .

Ichigo clicks his tongue. It looked like he’d been expecting the answer, but he still didn’t like it. “You… You aren’t the Inoue I know.” He begins, pointing accusatorily at me, “The Inoue I know wouldn’t just… sit around and be mopey and sad like this! She would be getting up and taking action—even if she  _ was _ just being a sarcastic little brat to the medics! What  _ happened _ to you?”

His words resonated in me. What  _ did _ happen to me? A couple of near death experiences and I was ready to quit? Ichigo had been through just as much as I had—if not more—and so had the others. And I was the only one acting like this. I stare at him blankly.

Then again, none of them had experienced the mental trauma of being confronted with Mayuri. I was angry, hot with the nasty feeling. Ichigo didn’t know what I’ve been through. 

“You don’t know! You don't know me!” I shout at him, my voice cracking from being raised too much. “You don’t know what I’ve done… what I’ve  _ seen _ ! What I’ve been through! So don't act like you've known who I am all along!”

“And I won’t know unless you  _ tell _ me!” Ichigo shouts back, glaring, “You’ve just been sitting here—keeping it all to yourself! Bottling it up! We’re supposed to be your  _ friends _ , Inoue! And you just… it’s like you don’t even  _ care _ .” 

For one, I was surprised Ichigo went with the ‘high road’ not comparing our pains to each other and instead went straight to the ‘we want to help you but you aren't letting us’ route.

Still, Ichigo’s words are like a slap in the face to me. He’s right, I was all about preaching friendship and togetherness and everything and yet I was still… pushing everyone away. “It’s like you aren’t even  _ trying _ .”

“Hoshiko is… trying.” I can feel tears welling up at the corner of my eyes. “I… I- _ I  _ am trying, Ichigo! But it’s hard… How can I forget it? It keeps coming back and I... I’m  _ scared _ . I almost died, Ichigo. I… I almost  _ died _ … I didn’t think something like that would happen.”

The words tell him all my fears without me having to physically say them aloud.

I wouldn’t say Ichigo and I are  _ close— _ not like Sado, not like Tatsuki—but we do have somewhat of an understanding, from the few times we have talked—even now, I’m more than sure he knows what I mean when I stare at him, eyes watery.

Ichigo grunts, obviously not expecting me to start crying. He sits down, pulling my left hand into his. “Ino— _ Hoshiko _ .” He says with an intensity that is hard to look away from. His eyes are determined, “You’re  _ safe _ with me... something like that, never again.”

And I believed him.

It was hard not to. Ichigo could make you believe it was raining monkeys from the sky when he got that look in his eye. I sniffle, my tears slowing down and I wipe them with my free hand. Ichigo looks awkward now, unsure of what to do or say.

“Hey,” My voice is quiet and still hoarse and my hand grips Ichigo’s before he can pull away completely with the fever of a child not wanting to let go of their mother.

_ Stay  _ is quietly implied in my actions. It’s more like a suggestion than a command.

I don’t want to be alone, like I have been.

It feels…  _ different _ . Talking with Rukia and Uryu is different from talking with Ichigo and Sado. Ichigo’s words resonate within me. I feel safe. That’s how I feel around Sado and Urahara and how I felt around Tatsuki before we came. But it's still different from them too in a way I can't describe.

Ichigo eyes me, as if he is going to go.

But…

Ichigo sits. And Ichigo  _ stays _ . And Ichigo talks.

He tells me about how it was when he was stuck with Ganju. About how scared he was that we were dead, but reassures me he knew we were much, much stronger than that.

He recaps animatedly about facing off against Ikkaku and Renji… and Kenpachi and Byakuya. He talks about running around the Seireitei and how they needed some damn maps for people like us even though we were initially invaders and how he had heard about my nickname and knew immediately that it was me and he was so happy that I was safe (“And I use that term lightly, because look at you now. Urahara is gonna kill me... and on top of that, Tatsuki...”) and he wished that they’d called him something other than “that orange-haired Ryoka Shinigami”.

He tells me about training with Yoruichi and how embarrassing it was to find out she was a  _ woman _ —and I react accordingly to it—and how he trained with Zangetsu to achieve Bankai and how that felt when he finally did it… even though Renji was there with him and managed to do it before him.

He tells me about how we were never far from his thoughts and how he felt seeing Rukia the first and second time. He tells me about how relieved he was to see us all again—and how angry he felt when he found out we were hurt—how especially livid and powerless he felt when he sensed my pain.

He talks and I laugh and I listen. I listen to it all. Ichigo is unafraid to talk, and I am unafraid to listen. He doesn’t push me to say anything I don’t want to and the air is filled with his voice, which is much better than the silence I had before.

I guess, what I really needed was… a friend. Someone who was going to acknowledge my pain and snap me out of this downward spiral. Someone that was going to see it and say  _ ‘Hey, this isn’t the end. It’s far from it. You’re strong, but you can lean on me until you’re better.’  _ And talking to Ichigo like this has helped me realize that the life or death situation doesn’t matter anymore.

We came to do what we needed to do, we did it and we survived and now we needed to  _ live _ . And what I was doing was just… being alive.

Ichigo talks way into the night until he’s having trouble keeping his eyes open now. He finally, in the middle of explaining what he’d been doing for most of the recovery week--which was just a rambling of half-sentences and an odd verbal tic that was strangely adorable (he had the thickest accent, as if he was from the countryside) lets his head hit the bed and snores. Snores like he’s never slept before and I smile, running a hand through his hair.

“Sado. Uryu.” I call out to the two, feeling their presence behind the door. Their reiatsu spikes, well Sado’s does, Uryu’s wavers some and I know they’ve felt mine do the same. The two boys come into the room, closing the door behind them.

“We came by earlier, but…”  _ We didn’t want to interrupt _ was unspoken.  I nod that them. “How do you feel?”

“…better…” I carefully say, looking up at them. “It’s going to take some time to… fully get over it. But I think I’ll be okay. You’ve all… done a lot for me. But the rest is up to me.” Sado smiles, nodding. He knows exactly what I mean without me having to say it. Uryu seems to get the gist of it and nods as well, pushing up his glasses.

“At the end of the week, we were planning to head back.” Sado informs me, “If you’re ready, of course.”

“I think I will be, but it’s up to Unohana-san.” I tell them with a light smile. The two boys leave shortly after that and I sigh, looking down at Ichigo. “They could’ve at least helped me get him onto the bed or taken him with them…” I hold out my arms, calling out for a shield that helps me raise Ichigo and pull him onto the bed.

I’m not stranger to sharing beds—since Jinta doesn’t know what personal space is and Tatsuki always wants to share when we have sleepovers—so this is nothing new. I’m actually kind of looking forward to Ichigo’s reaction tomorrow.

I chuckle lightly. “Ichigo...  _ thank you _ .”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD THIS WAS THE SAPPIEST CHAPTER I HAVE E V E R WRITTEN. I GOTTA GO. ICHIGO WHY. HOSHIKO WHY. Why can’t you just... suck it up so we don’t have to be sappy. gosh, I hate writing the sap, but someone gotta do it. Also, this chapter was like 6 pages but it had to be done. We're almost through this filler arc!!


	29. Soul Society: The Recovery Arc: Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sailor Hoshiko here to ruin Renji

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I uploaded another chapter... happy first day back to school for me! How is everybody's new year??? Not much longer for this filler arc, [I Promise](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11414562/chapters/30521733)

The next two days passed with relative ease—I spent time alternating between seeing the others and spending time (kind of unwillingly) with the Shinigami Women’s Association. They weren’t bad company just… _rowdy_ at times. And that was saying something, coming from me. More than once, Yoruichi had to pull Rukia and I out of whatever scheme Rangiku had tried to pull these past two days and I was thankful for it.

On the day before we had decided to leave, I see Uryu while I’m out, trying to find my way back to the Kuchiki manor. “Uryu!” I greet, turning to look at him. “What’s up?”

“You look healthy.” Uryu says by way of a compliment and I chuckle. “I… I managed to procure items I needed and tried my best to recreate your clothing from when we arrived.” He held out my backpack to me.

“Hey! My backpack!” I yelp, running over to him. “Kūkaku gave it to you?”

“Yoruichi-san… brought it by.” From the way he says it, I can tell that Yoruichi came by in her human form. He still seems unnerved by Yoruichi’s female appearance. I nod, opening the bag and pulling out the clothes. They vaguely resemble the clothes I had worn—but have a “Quincy Flair” to them. The jacket—which was pink is now white and blue, but my name is embroidered on the front, so I don’t have many complaints.

The shorts don’t have the star pattern, but instead have one lone star on the front and my socks are black. “Thanks, Uryu.”

“I couldn’t do anything about your shoes, however…” He frowns, “But Yoruichi-san is allowing you usage of hers, they too, are in the bag.”

“Oh, that’s nice of her. Guess she won't need them, being a cat and all.” I look up at Uryu, “So tomorrow, huh?”

“Yes…” He agrees, smiling slightly. “By any chance, have you seen Rukia-san?”

“Not since yesterday… why?” Uryu holds up another bag, opening it for me to look inside.

“I’ve also made Rukia-san a dress for our journey back.” He informs me. “I’ve been looking, but I can’t find her.”

“You thought up everything, huh?” I reach out, ruffling his hair. He grumbles, meticulously putting it back into place—god, he was such a nitpicker. “You’re gonna get points for this—Rukia is a clothing _fiend_. She’ll leave Kurosaki in a heartbeat if you make her more clothes.”

Uryu sputters, obviously trying to deny it when someone comes up behind him. Byakuya and Renji stand behind Uryu, with both of them looking rather interested, though Byakuya’s interest looks a little dark. He’s probably protective of Rukia, how adorable. He should be, after what we’ve all been through.

“Is what you say true?” Byakuya towers over me and makes Uryu jump to the side, surprised at the man’s arrival, “Are the Kurosaki boy and… Rukia… in a courtship?”

“Courtship?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Dating.” Renji supplies, equally as curious as Byakuya and… is that jealousy on Renji’s face? Oh, everybody here was _so_ obvious. It's almost painful. “In their world, the term for courtship is dating.”

“WH-Wh-What?” Uryu yells out, incredulous and nervous, “N-No! No way! R-Right? Hoshiko-san!” I want to joke more, but the look on Byakuya’s face stops me. Damn, if only it was just Renji and Uryu.

“Oh, c’mon! Byacchi!” I slap his arm as if we’re old friends. He bristles at the nickname and even more so at my touch. “It’s just a joke! Rukia’s perfectly single and not seeing anybody.” Byakuya seems to calm down at this, “But… aren’t you supposed to be in bed still?”

“Yes…” Unohana’s hand comes down on Byakuya’s shoulder. He moves to draw his Zanpakutō, obviously scared of the smiling woman, but he cannot, since Renji is holding it. “ _Lieutenant Abarai_.” Unohana’s ire is directed towards him, though her tone sounds pleasant. She is more unnerving than being around Mayuri. “Why have you allowed Captain Kuchiki out of his bed?”

“W-W-Well… y’see…” Renji falters for an excuse. I decide that it’s time for me to leave before Unohana unleashes her quiet wrath. While Uryu is distracted with watching the scene I snatch the dress bag from his grip.

“I gotta go. I’ll go find Rukia.” I throw up a peace sign and run. Nobody wants to be caught in the path of Unohana’s wrath. They might not know it, but Unohana was the original Kenpachi and… well, even now she was a _lot_ scarier than she looked, just judging by Byakuya’s sudden paleness at her appearance.

I check for Rukia in the most obvious places—the Kuchiki Manor, with Rangiku who is at the bar and I even make my way to her division. I can’t remember exactly where she’d gone, but I was in no rush to find her—I had all day, so I decided to take a long route before actually trying to remember where she’d gone.

“Hello?!” I call. I’d only been here at the Twelfth Division Barracks a couple of times since I was released from bed rest with Rukia, so I only knew how to enter through the side—from a hole in the wall that was never patched—which brought you out into the area near the pond. It’s a nice area, probably used for relaxing and isn’t off-limits to the members of the squad, but generally is hardly ever occupied by more than a couple of people is what Rukia told me. “Rukia?”

“Hm?” Ukitake looks over at me from where he is seated on the porch with Kyōraku. “Oh, Ryoka-san.” I don’t know whether he called me that on purpose or not, but Kyōraku looks up, seemingly ecstatic to see me.

I’d met them formally once before, after our meeting with the Captain Commander. The two were, like last time, sitting on the porch, well, Ukitake was sitting while Kyōraku allowed his feet to dangle over the edge, laying on the porch. They were an odd pair but calming to be around. Out of all the Captains I’d met, I liked these two the most—even compared to Toshiro and he was apparently everybody’s favorite Captain. I felt bad for interrupting, but it didn’t look like they were doing much.

“Hello!” Kyōraku greets enthusiastically. “Hello!” Kyōraku sits up fully, smiling widely at me.

“Hi!” I approach the two, pretending to forget their names, “Hmmm…. Jūcchi and…” I look over to Kyōraku, who looks expectant for a nickname. “Captain Kyōraku.”

“What?” Kyōraku whines, “Why does Jūcchi get a cute nickname and I get the whole formal bit?”

“Nanao-san says that I shouldn’t be nice to you.” I inform him, shrugging, “Unless you do your work.”

“Ah, that’s just like her… using my one weakness against me.” Kyōraku places a hand against his heart, frowning. “So, Red Hanabi-chan.” I blush at the nickname. Dammit, it’s been nearly three weeks, why are people still calling me that? “You’re looking for someone?”

“Yeah, Rukia.” I tell them, holding out the bag. “Uryu made Rukia a nice dress, so I wanna give it to her before we leave.”

Kyōraku hums and Jūshirō nods his head, “You’re not… thinking Rukia is going with you, are you?”

“No,” I shake my head, “As much as I want her to, I know her place is here and she wouldn’t leave. I don’t know if the others know that though.”

“You’re very smart, Red Hanabi-san.” Jūshirō comments, “Wise beyond your years, it seems.”

“Ah, well, I kind of have to be—bein’ Urahara’s student an’ all.” I blush again, rubbing the back of my head. “But we’re leaving tomorrow, so I have to find her today.”

“We won’t keep you then.” Kyōraku hands me a steamed bun wrapped in a napkin. “Take this for the road, huh? Nanao-chan says you’re a food connoisseur. I’d like to see how my steamed buns match up.”

“I’m something like that, I guess.” I grin at him. I guess Nanao really enjoyed those cookies I made the other day. “Thanks, Yōssan!” I bow to the two captains and then leave the same way I came.

I take care to avoid walking anywhere near the Twelfth Division for obvious reasons, giving it a wide breadth of space as I walked around it. Just being here made me feel… _uneasy_. I quickly pass by it and stop to calm myself near the front of the eleventh division and I run smack into Ichigo, who was leaving the barracks.

“Kurosaki!” I greet him. He recognizes me and pulls me along. “Where are we going?”

“Just shut up and run!” Ichigo commands.

So, we run.

And run… and run… and run… and run until we’re somewhere near the fifth division. It’s not like I had much of a choice in the matter. Ichigo slams to a stop, letting go of my wrist and immediately, he bends over, panting and I look up, hands on my hips as I pant. I then turn, rearing on him. “What the hell? Why were we running?”

“Kenpachi…” Ichigo says by way of explaining. “I’mma not… tryin’ to fight him again…” Ichigo clears his throat then looks at me. “Are you supposed to be up anyway?”

“Yeah.” I nod. Unohana cleared me from the hospital yesterday but told me I still needed to rest up to replenish more of my Reiryoku when we got back. “I’m all good. How about you?”

“I’m fine, yanno.” Ichigo says shortly. “But… I can’t help thinking about that Aizen guy… after what he did to Rukia… is it okay for us to just let him go?”

“I know how you feel, but at this point, we just have to let it go for the moment… while they locate Aizen, we just need to focus on getting stronger and getting back home.” Ichigo seems to turn my words over in his head and eventually nods and looks me over again.

As much as I didn’t want to agree with the Captain Commander, we really couldn’t do anything at the moment. We did have to get stronger, so that when Aizen struck, we could do something. My goal in all of this was to avoid getting kidnapped, so I’d have to take steps to avoid that as well. But I could think more in depth about it later.

“Where were you coming from?” He asks me, “Fourth Division isn’t all the way back there.”

“I’m looking for Rukia.” I reach into the bag and pull out the dress. “Uryu made this for her. Have you seen her?”

“No, not since the other day… but that dress doesn’t look like it’d fit anybody.” Ichigo comments, taking it from me and holding it out. It’s a white sundress with a blue band around the bottom. “Yeah, this looks like Uryu’s M.O.” We share a glance. _The white and blue…_ Ichigo gives it back to me, “Well, I can help you look?”

“Yeah, much better than me looking by myself.” I agree. “Where should we go?”

“Maybe she’s visiting Byakuya?” Ichigo suggests. “I know where his room is.”

“Why.” I ask him. “Why do you know where his room is?”

“…” Ichigo doesn't respond at first, “I… hide in there sometimes when I don't want _them_ to find me.”

“Makes sense.” Though I don't question who ‘they’ are.

I gesture, allowing Ichigo to lead the way and we walk past the fifth division, heading into the fourth and walking around the outside of one of the main hospital wards. One of the windows is open and I can hear Renji inside talking. Yeah, that’s obviously Byakuya’s room.

“Yo, Renji. Byakuya!” Ichigo greets, putting his arms up on the window sill. “Inoue, get up here.”

“I’m short! Hold on!” I call out my shield and step on it, standing just a little taller than Ichigo. “Renji, Byacchi.” I greet both with a slight head nod. The way the two are sitting makes me think that they were probably having a moment. “Have either of you seen Rukia?”

“What? You two! You’re interrupting!” Renji shouts, “You can’t just barge in like that! How rude!”

“The Red Hanabi strikes again!” I yell, striking a Sailor Moon-esque pose. “Whenever losers think they’re going to do something cool, The Red Hanabi will stop them in their tracks!” Well, since the nickname was going to stick… I might as well use it, huh?

Renji sputters, blushing hotly in anger as Byakuya shakes his head. “No, we haven’t seen her.” He answers, probably trying to get us to leave quicker.

“Oh. Alright.” Ichigo says simply. “C’mon, Inoue. Bye, you guys.”

“Try better next time, loser!” I stick my tongue out at Renji, who leans over the bed and out the windowsill. “Bye, Byacchi!” I hop off of my shield and run after Ichigo.

“It’s people like you who give red-heads a bad name!” He shouts after me and I can’t help but laugh. Oh, messing with everyone was fun. It was good to be me again.

“Talk to me when it doesn’t look like you left your hairline in the third grade!” I yell back as we run away from Renji.

“Where should we go now?” Ichigo asks me. I shrug, kicking my feet as we walk. I couldn’t remember exactly where Rukia had gone when Inoue and Ichigo had tried to find her. Then it hits me. Oh, I was so stupid!

“ _Kūkaku_!” I groan, slapping my hand against my face. “She’s at Kūkaku’s house!” Ichigo has the same look on his face and grimaces. “It only makes sense.”

“Dammit, we’re so stupid… how did we not know? After all that… then she said…” Ichigo groans, grabbing me and tucking me under his arm. “C’mon, it’ll be faster with Shunpo.”

“Wa-Wa- _Wait_!” I yelped out, but Ichigo has already started moving.

Let it be known that I _hate_ Shunpo. It’s fast and I have _no_ control over it… and it makes me want to throw up. Shunpo, from what I’ve experienced, is similar to teleporting. Your whole existence is erased for a moment before you reappear somewhere else. The speed at which you travel is so fast, you don’t even realize you’ve moved until you’re somewhere else.

And when you’re the passenger… it’s different. Well, not different but worse. It’s like being sucked into a vacuum that only lasts a breath. And despite it only lasting a breath, it feels like an eternity from when you enter and when you exit. Ichigo, as he was taught by Yoruichi personally, has a Shunpo style that is similar to her, in that it’s based on speed and not distance.

Sure, Ichigo is fast and due to his large amount of reiatsu, he can go far, but it’s clear his Shunpo is meant for close combat and not long, drawn out trips into the countryside. When we get there, I struggle out of Ichigo’s hold and eventually, he drops me for moving too much. “Sweet… Sweet… land!” I cry out in joy, running my fingers through the grass.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Ichigo says above me. I turn to look at him. “It wasn’t! I've gotten better, yanno!”

“Next time, I want _you_ to be the passenger! And you almost dropped me!” I stand up, glaring at him.

“That was _once_!” Ichigo grunts, pushing his finger against my forehead.

“One time too many!” I push him back. Ichigo pushes me back and somewhere near us, I hear laughter.

“You guys… never fail… to cheer me up…” Rukia laughs through light tears.

“Rukia!” Ichigo and I shout simultaneously. She looks the same as she did the other day, dressed in a black kimono with small floral prints. But there’s something different about her, and I’m guessing it’s from her apologizing to Kūkaku and Ganju finally. I see Kūkaku leaning against the door frame. She offers a wave before heading into the house.

“Here, Uryu made this for you.” I hold out the bag. “We’ve been looking for you.”

“Let’s get a move on, since we’re going back tomorrow and all.” Ichigo suggest, but Rukia doesn’t move. “Rukia?”

“I’m sorry, Ichigo… Hoshiko.” Her gaze travels from him to me and back again, “But… I’ll be staying here.” Ichigo seems surprised, but he masks it easily, huffing out. “Despite… it all, I just don't think I can abandon everyone here. I’m sorry…”

I move, pulling Rukia into a hug, “I had a feeling you were going to stay. Everything you know is here, it’s hard to leave that behind, right?”

“Exactly…” Rukia confirms, “I hope you understand, Ichigo.” I pull away and the two make burning eye contact before Ichigo shrugs.

“I guess… since you’re making the decision yourself… I can let it slide.” Ichigo finally relents and Rukia looks just about ready to cry. “Make sure you get them to let you visit. Or else we’ll be making trips back up here.”

“Yeah! The Red Hanabi will strike when no-one is looking!” I strike another pose. Rukia laughs, patting my arm. “But… I doubt they’ll want us dropping by unexpected again.”

“I will… and Hoshiko, watch over Ichigo for me, please? He’s a handful, but… I know you can do it.”

“Of course I’ll watch over this brat. He’s nothing without some supervision.” I shake my head, “I mean, he might go off and try to fight another otherworldly organization if we don’t watch him.”

“Hey!” Ichigo smacks the back of my head. “Didn't you follow me here anyway? So I don't know what type of ‘watching out for me’ you're doing if you were right next to me the whole time!”

“Hey yourself! Do you wanna fight or something? Hitting me like that!” I smack his arm. Ichigo goes to retaliate, but I turn to Rukia. “And that's either here nor there. Let’s get back. I still wanna eat.” I pull out the steamed bun Kyōraku gave me earlier and stuff it into my mouth. It was actually… really good. “I’m ready for some pizza when we get back.”

“Oh, I’ll miss pizza…” Rukia groans, biting her lip.

“When you visit, we’ll all go get some.” I suggest, “Let’s walk back, I don’t think I can take another go round on the Kurosaki Shunpo Express.”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Ichigo stresses, “You didn’t die, did you?”

“No, but I felt my life flashing. And I almost threw up.”

“Maybe we _should_ walk.” Rukia takes my side. I stick my tongue out at Ichigo who falters, glaring at us.

“Fine! But hurry up!”

* * *

 

The next day comes all too quickly and Sado, Uryu and I are dressed similar to how we were when we arrived here. There’s something like a farewell party at the gate where they’ve opened the Dangai for us. Everyone is there—a good portion of the captains and people we’d met here and also, Jidanbō, Kūkaku and Ganju.

“So.. she’s really not coming?” Uryu asks me quietly as Ichigo and Rukia exchange last minute words.

“Nah,” I tell him, rocking back and forth on my heels. “I think it’s better that she stays anyway. No fighting between you and Kurosaki over who wins her hand.”

“I wish you wouldn’t make jokes like that…” Uryu sighs, “If Captain Kuchiki hears you…” Uryu eyes the captain warily.

“But it’s funny! Right, Sado?” I nudge Sado. He nods, agreeing with me. “See! See! Hilarious! Yo, Kurosaki! Let’s get goin’ yeah?”

Ichigo turns, nodding and Rukia comes over, practically flying into my arms and hugging me tightly. “Rukia, stop! I’m gonna cry!” I hug her back just as tightly.

“I’m gonna miss you guys. I promise to try to visit soon, okay?” Rukia hooks her pinky with mine and Ichigo’s after she pulls away. Ukitake approaches, pulling something out of his pocket. “Ah, Captain!” Rukia bows, backing away a little.

“It’s fine, Rukia.” Ukitake smiles and holds something out to Ichigo. “Kurosaki Ichigo… this is the Official Substitute Shinigami Badge. I’m giving it to you in thanks for your help.” Ichigo takes it from him, unsure of what to do with it. “It will help you remove your soul from your body without use of a mod soul or someone else to do it for you. If you show it to other Shinigami in the area, they won’t stop you.”

“Gee, thanks.” Ichigo grins at him.

“Hey, we’re a team, why don’t _we_ get badges?” I grumble, crossing my arms. Ukitake smiles in amusement and pats my head.

“Sorry, it’s the only one I have…” He apologizes, handing me a piece of candy. “But I can make you one…”

“She’s fine without one.” Ichigo answers for me. I look at him, incredulous and Ichigo sighs, shaking his head. “We can share mine.” He hands it to me and I hold it up to the sky. The badge itself seems to be made of something similar to leather and there is some obvious wear and tear on it, but it’s fine for the most part—with a skull in the middle and lines shooting from it towards the outer edges.

“Fine, I guess this will do for now. Maybe Urahara will make me one or something.” I mumble, pocketing the badge.

“Well, as much as we’d _love_ to stick around.” Yoruichi’s masculine voice cuts through the conversation, “We should probably be getting back.”

“Yeah, Urahara’s probably crying into his pillow, eating chocolates and getting fat since we've been gone so long.” I chuckle, turning towards the Senkaimon.

“Goodbye, Ryoka!” Someone in the crowd shouts, prompting everyone else to start yelling and cheering.

“The Great… Red Hanabi will return… eventually!” I shout, throwing my hand up. The group of them cheers at our departure. Sado picks me up, following Ichigo and the others into the Senkaimon, which leads us into the Dangai and Sado still doesn’t put me down. “Hey! I can walk, you know!”

“Ichigo! Hoshiko! Everyone! Thank you!” I hear Rukia scream after us. I smile, looking over at Ichigo who is still running. He smiles back. Mission accomplished, but it’s not over yet.

“Sado, put me down!” I thrash about in his arms. Sado just pushes me tighter into his side.

“You were taking too long, talking to your fans.” Sado explains. They run, as we aren’t sure if we’ll be overrun with the same dilemma that held us the first time, but for some reason, it seems much, much shorter this time.

“I think it’s better if you don’t walk, Hoshiko-san!” Uryu yells. The whistling sound of the Kototsu comes up behind us and I hear the girliest scream come from Uryu.

“What the hell? I thought this was the official way?” Ichigo shouts. He, Sado, Uryu and Yoruichi run a little faster. “This is just like the last time!”

“Hopefully Uryu’s cape doesn’t get stuck this time!”

“How about you run for yourself before you start insulting others, Hoshiko-san!” Uryu yells back.

“We need Hell Butterflies, Ichigo!” Yoruichi loudly explains, “Only Shinigami can use them! We’re still Ryoka through and through, so you better stop that complaining and save your energy for running!”

“The gate… it’s up ahead!” Sado’s voice is a little louder than usual and the light of the end of the Dangai shines so brightly, I have to shield my eyes from it.

“Wh-Wh-What the hell?!” Ichigo screams. We’re… a good amount of height above the ground, just enough to probably kill us upon impact.

The five of us scream loudly, tumbling downward at a fast rate. “I thought we’d en--!” My scream is cut off and muffled when we’re blanketed in a large sheet.

“Jinta… Home Ru—“

“Tessai Death Catch!” Tessai cuts Jinta off. We spin, somehow managing to upright ourselves and the sheet covering us flies away. In a heap on the floor of… whatever this is, I sit up, pushing body parts off of me and look forward.

“U-Urahara!” I laugh, almost surprised, but not at all unhappy to see him.

“Well, well…” Urahara doesn’t face us, but I can see he’s using his fan. “Welcome back everyone.”

“Tadaima kaerimashita!” I call out, throwing an arm up in greeting.

“Okaeri nasai.” Tessai-san, Ururu and Jinta echo back. I turn, seeing them sitting behind us as everyone else rights themselves on the flying… thing. I’m just going to call it a carpet for now.

“Looks like we’ve all made it back safe, hm?” Urahara finally turns to us. “It’s good to see you all again,” He looks back, though his eyes are covered, I can see that he’s looking at Ichigo and I. “I… by now, I’m sure you’ve learned the truth about me, hm?”

“That you were a Captain? Or that you’re a mad scientist that doesn’t know when to quit?” I speak in Ichigo’s stead. Ichigo stands up, detaching himself from the body pile.

“Either or.” Urahara says, his voice devoid of humor. “Pick your poison.” Urahara turns, taking off his hat and bowing his head. “Words… cannot express… how sorry I am.” He doesn’t look at us and Ichigo sighs, rubbing the back of his head.

“Hoi, hoi…” I speak up, standing a little wobbly. I approach Urahara, sitting in front of him. “You’re hopeless, you know that?”

“…So I’ve been told.” He chuckles lightly, bitterness in the sound.

“It’s alright.” Ichigo says, “I’m not… I’m not mad about it anymore, so you don’t have to apologize to me.”

“I think you did a stupid thing, but… you realized your mistake and tried to correct it.” I add in, putting my hand on Urahara’s head. He still doesn’t raise his head. “The way you went about it was... well, let's leave that. It’s… not exactly your fault this happened.”

“I don’t know your motivations for creating that thing are…” Ichigo continues, “But like Inoue said… you didn’t know this would happen. And in the end, you helping us get stronger… is probably what saved us.”

“For this…” Sado speaks up, “We’re thankful.” I nod my head, patting Urahara on his.

“So don’t say sorry.” I finally end, “Or I’ll kick your ass.”

“But I do have one question.” Ichigo approaches us. “…Why didn’t you tell us from the start? Were you scared that we’d run away?”

“You’re…” Urahara puts his hat on, his regular grin scratching into place. “Exactly right!” Ichigo quickly nails Urahara in the face at the same time I do.

“Asshole pervert!” The two of us say in unison.

“Now you’re pissin’ me off!” Ichigo grumbles, taking a seat behind me.

“You were taking it so well… I didn’t expect an elbow and a punch in the face…” He groans, “Hoshiko-chan… I knew Ichigo might hit me, but not you too!”

“I have some questions for you later, so you can ice it and get ready for them.” I glare at him.

“One more thing.” Ichigo calls. I turn, seeing that he still hasn’t turned around to look at Urahara. “Apologize to Rukia. She’s the one who was the most hurt by all this. But… I know she’ll say what we said.”

“Of course…” Urahara agrees easily, his cool tone sliding back into place.

“Now that that’s settled,” Uryu stands, “Can you drop me off around here, Urahara-san?”

“Of course! Let’s descend!” Urahara slaps his fan against the carpet thing and it lowers.

Uryu moves to hop off, but stops when Ichigo speaks. “See ya later, Uryu.” Ichigo tosses a wave, “If anything big happens, I’ll be sure to get ya somehow.”

“What are you talking about?” Uryu doesn’t turn to face us, but I know he’s pushing up his glasses like he usually does. “Do not forget, Kurosaki Ichigo…” Uryu turns to Ichigo, “Next time I see you, we’re enemies again. You are a Shinigami and I… a Quincy. We’re mortal enemies.”

The air is somewhat tense from Uryu’s admission and Ichigo can only stare on in shock. I scoff, approaching Uryu.

“Uryu, shut up.” I roll my eyes and push him, “We’re all friends—you even said so yourself when we were going up Sōkyoku Hill. If you try to act cool and say you’re enemies again, I’m not making you anymore macaroons. Now say goodbye like you mean it.”

Uryu blushes, his ears even turning red from being put on the spot. “Go…Goodbye, everyone. Have a good rest of your night.” Uryu backs away and we fly off, with Sado and I waving at Uryu.

“You really put him in his place.” Sado comments.

“Stubbornness is only supposed to be a quality I have. There can’t be two stubborn ones in the group.” I cross my arms, huffing. “It just doesn't work, you know.”

“Stubbornness is a good quality on both of you.” Sado confirms, nodding. “Uryu makes it work with his Tsundere personality type. And you make it work with your ‘never give up’ attitude.”

“Pah! Get _real_! It’s probably one of your worst qualities!” Ichigo counters.

“And your stupidness is one of yours!” I shoot back, glaring.

“It’s good to have everyone home!” Urahara cheers from behind us. “Hoshiko-chan, are you coming back to the shop?”  

I ponder the idea, but ultimately shake my head. “No, I’ll go home.”

“This is my stop.” Sado says at the same time, pointing down. The carpet descends once more and Sado jumps off, “Well, I’ll see you all again sometime soon.”

“For pasta and snacks!” I cheer and Sado nods, waving goodbye as we head back into the sky.

“Inoue, maybe you _should_ go with Urahara and the others.” Ichigo says, “Unohana wants you to rest more.”

“I can rest on my own!” I protest, “I’m going to go home!” Ichigo stares at me for a moment before his gaze travels to the ground below. “I just wanna lay in my own bed…”

“Ah, let me off here.” Ichigo says instead of replying. “I’ll just walk the rest of the way.”

“If you’re sure…” Urahara trails, letting the carpet descend once more. We hover above a grassy area near the river bank and I vaguely recognize it as the place where Ichigo’s mother was killed. Ichigo stares at it for a moment before turning to Urahara.

“Urahara, I need to talk to you.” Ichigo beckons the man over, “Come over here.” I raise an eyebrow, as does Urahara, but he nonetheless follows Ichigo off of the carpet and they walk a little ways away, closer to the riverbank. What could Ichigo have to tell Urahara about? And why was he acting so secretive. I see Ichigo pull an envelope out of his robes and hand it to Urahara.

“Talking secrets behind my back?” I shout at them. “Fine! I didn’t even want to know.” I turn, looking at Tessai, Ururu and Jinta. “So… did you guys miss me?” Yoruichi seems to be taking a cat nap on the carpet, though I see her ear twitch. She’s obviously listening in on the conversation.

“Pssh, like we’d miss you.” Jinta crosses his arms.

“Jinta asked about you everyday.” Ururu tattled, “He was so worried about you.”

“Shut up! Hair-for-brains!” Jinta blushes, pulling on Ururu’s hair antennae. Tessai-san shoots him a look and he immediately stops. “S-Sorry…”

“It’s good to know I was missed!” I confess, “I missed you guys too! I wanted to get better fast so we could get back sooner. I’m sorry I took so long.”

“All that matters is that you’re back and safe, Hoshiko-san.” Tessai-san finally speaks, nodding firmly. Urahara returns to the carpet and I look to see Ichigo heading down the road.

“Kurosaki!” I shout. He turns, “I’ll see you at school!”

“Yeah! I’ll see you there!” Ichigo waves back as we head into the sky again. Urahara is… uncharacteristically quiet, so I turn to him, tilting my head.

“You okay? Urahara?” I poke him. He looks up, fixing me with a deathly serious glare that pins me in place. “…Urahara…?”

“Hoshiko,” He doesn’t bother with the usual playful honorifics. I can feel the others bristle at his tone of voice. “What… happened to you over there?”

I freeze. Urahara’s reiatsu is leaking out of him. It’s cold. So, so cold. Freezing. Freezing like… I calm myself, though I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. Urahara’s gaze softens and his reiatsu seems normal. I breath, panting out heavily.

“I… c-can we have shrimp for dinner?” I say, instead of answering his question. “And… ice cream for dessert?”

Urahara eyes me once more. “We’ll have to pick some up on the way home, then.” His tone isn’t as light as before.

And all I can think is… he _knows_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Click that link up there in those beginning notes if ur curious about Ichigo. Also, a friend of mine is gonna be doing illustrations!!! I'm excited for them to do those (they did one and it was funny to me lmao) but schanyways, next time!:
> 
> “You don't need to know about that. He shouldn't—he shouldn't have told you anything about that.”


	30. Soul Society: The Recovery Arc: Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are we emotional yet?

**** It’s not that I don’t want Urahara to know… It’s just that… it’s too soon. I mean... not soon, but... too soon for Urahara and the others to know. Tessai-san hops off of the carpet as we hover just out of view of any passerby and heads into the store, picking up the shrimp and ice cream. Jinta, Ururu and I sit near the back of the carpet while Urahara sits in the front, obviously still thinking about my avoidance to answer.

I wasn’t ready to fully tell anybody about what happened. For now, I wanted to forget about it. And I still have questions for Urahara—like, who was I similar to? Aizen wasn’t letting that one go so easily, and asking Urahara was the next best option, if he’d tell me, that is. Ururu and Jinta aren’t really saying much of anything, probably because they can sense the tenseness coming from Urahara. No doubt, the moment we get back, he’s going to try and get me to tell him about it.

I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it. I just…  _ don’t _ . 

The rest of the ride is quiet and we eventually land in front of Urahara Shoten. We all hop off and Yoruichi disappears as I follow Urahara inside. Tessai retreats to the kitchen to prepare the shrimp and Jinta and Ururu go off to bed. Even though this is the night I returned from Soul Society, so it should be a big party, it's not. Instead, everything is awkward and tense and... it makes me uneasy.

“You can’t avoid telling me forever.” Urahara tells me as we sit in the living room.

“…just for now.” I reply, “Just for now… I don’t want to talk.” The look I give him, I’m sure is broken and pleading and the look Urahara gives me back is one that screams heartbreak. He looks so… hurt. And then angry.

“I… I shouldn’t have let you…” Urahara is having trouble forming the words. He slams his hand down on the table, the loud noise scaring me. “I shouldn’t have let you go! I should have prepared you better!  _ Dammit _ ! Ichigo said your wounds were… Yoruichi still hasn’t even looked at me. Why would--I... Dammit!”

Urahara goes quiet. I still don’t want to talk about it—I don’t even feel hungry anymore. I just want to go into the bedroom with Ururu and Jinta and sleep for three more days. I feel so…  _ tired _ . So exhausted and drawn out. But I needed answers—I wanted them. And now seemed like the only time to get them.

“Who… Who is similar to me?” I ask instead, then move to clarify when Urahara looks up at me with confusion. “Aizen said you knew someone similar to me! And it had something to do with the Hōgyoku, otherwise he wouldn’t have mentioned it! Who is it?” I had to know, I needed to know. Did it have anything to do with Aizen’s future plans for me?

“I can’t answer that.” Urahara says quickly, shaking his head. “You don't need to know about that. He shouldn't—he  _ shouldn't _ have told you anything about that.”

I knew this was coming, but I couldn’t help the bitter amount of anger that rose up in my body. I was supposed to be one of Urahara’s closest allies—or did I imagine it? I mean… he offered to train me, right? We were supposed to be close, I know we haven’t known each other long, but… I thought we had more of a bond than this. He couldn’t talk to me about this? Now his apology feels like he was just apologizing for the sake of it. Apologizing for keeping secrets? What a crock of shit. Well, he wasn’t getting to know anything about me.

“Then I can’t answer  _ your _ questions!” I yell, “If you can’t be truthful with  _ me _ , why should I be truthful with  _ you _ ? It doesn’t  _ matter _ whether you should have let me go or not, fact is, I went, it happened and it’s over with! There’s nothing that can be changed!”

“Dammit!” Urahara slams his hands down on the table again. “Next time something happens… you aren’t going. You’re too weak, useless in battle.”

“What?” I yelp, my anger rising. Weak? Useless? I can feel my reiatsu climbing, anger in it and Urahara looks threatened. “H-How can you say that? They  _ need _ me! They need  _ my powers _ ! You can’t dictate—!”

“You aren’t  _ prepared _ ! You could have  _ died _ , Hoshiko! I don’t  _ care _ if they need you!” Urahara yells back, standing up. “ _ I _ need you too! I shouldn’t have fucking involved you in the first place!” A wave of his reiatsu washes over me and I back up, my shield flying to my rescue.

I’m panting, heavily. Sweat is beading my forehead and I can feel tears falling. Urahara looks over at me, all of his anger fading into instant regret as his reiatsu spasms and ultimately falters, becoming so small it’s almost hard to detect. “H-Hoshiko…”

“I-I’m sorry…” I cry out, sniffling. “I’m  _ sorry _ …”

“N-No… no…” Urahara flash-steps around the table and behind my barrier, pulling me into a tight hug, “No, don’t be. I’m sorry… you’re still sensitive—that wasn’t—I  _ shouldn’t have _ … Hoshiko, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I can’t help myself. The sobs choke up in my throat and pour out, and I’m bawling. I don’t feel embarrassed, I just… I don’t even know  _ why _ I’m crying. Urahara calms his reiatsu, letting it wash over me as he sits down more, pulling me closer to him and rocking. “I’m sorry…” I repeat. I don’t know why I’m sorry—I just am. If I hadn’t yelled, then maybe he wouldn’t have gotten mad at me?

But I was so…  _ angry _ . I was just… how could he have said that? “I’m sorry I’m so w-weak…” I stutter out around my sobbing. “I… I wasn’t strong enough to n-n-not get h-hurt…”

Urahara hushes me, running his fingers through my hair. “You’re not—You aren’t… I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry, Hoshiko… I… I just don’t want to lose you. You’re important to me. My little hummingbird. ”

Urahara hugs me a little tighter and we stay like this until my hiccupping sobs calm down, but I’m still not ready to move. It’s more of a feeling than actual sensing, but I know Tessai-san is hovering by the door, obviously waiting for us to finish up, but I still don’t want to eat. Urahara hums quietly, running his fingers through my hair.

“I… I can’t tell you everything. It’s too much now.” Urahara quietly says after a few more minutes, “But… I can tell you some things. If… you tell me some things too.”

“I…” I sniffle, gripping him a little tighter and breathing in. I haven’t hugged anyone like this in a long time—the last memory I have is of Sora hugging me and this reminds me of that. Sora was comforting—he was big and kind and warm and he always smelled like home to me. And Urahara is no different. I feel comforted. “I… I can’t… not now. It’s too... But…”

“Soon.” Urahara finishes for me. “I won’t push you. I’m sorry, Hoshiko.” I bury my head deeper into his shoulder and nod. I wasn’t all the way accepting his apology, but we were on the way.

* * *

White and Black. Dark and light. They all are in my dreams. He towers over me, like a Menos Grande and I cannot escape. He watches every move. How will I escape? He is everywhere I turn, so I stop turning.

“ _ Kurosaki _ !” I shout. Ichigo is… impaled. Zangetsu is a horrible instrument of terror when wielded correctly. His dead, dull eyes stare back at me and the laughter rolls out of the sky in waves, covering up my screams.

“S-Sado!” I scream. Sado is not here—I do not know where he has gone, but I know that he has met a similar fate to Ichigo. The laughter gets louder. I can barely hear myself over it. I screeched for Uryu, but the hot black darkness, coloring in white races up my skin, covering me. It holds my screams in and I cannot break the hold. 

It burns. Like a hot, hot fire. Like the sun. Like lava. Like pain of needles coursing up and down my veins and it is too much to try and stop. I can feel it everywhere and nowhere all at once.

I am next and I cannot run. I scream, trying to hear myself over the terror of the laughter, but I cannot. I scream louder. And louder and  _ louder _ .

_It suffocates._

“Hoshiko!” He’s here. He is close. He is coming for me. “Ho _**sh** _ _**i**_ ko!”

“Hoshiko! Wake  _ up _ !”

I bolt upright—or I would if I was able to control myself. There’s tears and sweat and the metallic taste of blood and the taste of snot on my tongue. My eyes are wide open and my tunnel vision is so severe I cannot see anything that is not in front of me. 

I thrash, but I cannot move. “No! No!  _ Please _ !” I scream, but I cannot. Urahara enters my vision and I calm, but not nearly enough. My screaming is silent and eventually it dies down. Soundless whimpers leave my mouth.

“Hoshiko…” Urahara’s voice is laced with worry. “Yoruichi, what’s happened to her?” He doesn't seem to actually be asking Yoruichi for an actual answer, but the woman seems to contemplate it nonetheless.

Yoruichi, in human form, stands behind Urahara, her own face contorted with worry. “I think her natural limiters are broken. What did the letter from Unohana say?” She asks, her gaze still trained on me. “She didn't tell me anything… tch, dammit! She just said they were just dreams!”

“Just that.” Urahara answers. He brushes hair out of my face. “She said if this happened again... I… I don’t know if she’ll be able to talk again.”

“I can try a sealing Kido.” Tessai-san suggests from the left. My vision is clearing, but I’m still panting heavily and I still can’t speak.

I thought I was over this. I thought that… I would be fine, being back home, but I’m not. It’s going to take a lot more than just willpower to recover. “What will it do?” Yoruichi looks to Tessai-san.

“Seal her ability to use the sonic scream. As for the limiter problem—it seems unconscious. Her reiatsu is fine when she’s awake, however…”

“While unconscious or asleep, it roams much more freely than it should.” Urahara sighs, “I don’t know how she managed to do something like this... It’s virtually impossible without the use of a medium.” Urahara gently lays me down on the futon. 

"She had no contact with the Hōgyoku, I know that for certain, so then how?" Yoruichi says aloud, more than likely speaking to herself.

“Her limiters have somehow been broken and with Unohana’s healing, they’ve... turned on her?” Urahara runs a hand through his hair, "I don't... I don't understand how."

“It’s acting as a defense mechanism, it seems.” Yoruichi says, “But… since there’s no limiters, there’s nothing stopping her from hurting herself like before. That power is a dangerous one. It’s not like her Shun Shun Rikka, which are sentient.”

“It’s also caused by the night terrors.” Tessai-san adds in. I blink slowly, feeling so unused to them talking _around_ me instead of _to_ me. 

I obviously can’t reply, but it’s odd. Unohana made no mention of this to me directly—but it’s clear she’d told someone—maybe Yoruichi? No, she just said Unohana didn't mention it to her… it was Ichigo—that was probably why he wanted to talk to Urahara when he asked to be dropped off by the riverbank. But why Ichigo and not Yoruichi? “We’ll need something to remedy those as well.”

“I’ll figure it out.” Urahara looks to them. “For now, can you heal her up and seal off that ability?”

Tessai-san approaches me with a nod. “This will be a little uncomfortable, Hoshiko-san.” He says directly to me. “But it’s for the best.”

“Will she be okay?” I hear Ururu’s quiet voice. I turn my head just enough to see them. She and Jinta near the wall. Ururu seems to have recovered from… whatever happened while Jinta still looks a little shaken as he holds onto Ururu, watching me with wide eyes.

“Eventually, yes.” Urahara answers her. “For now, she’ll have to stay here… tomorrow we’ll clear out the spare room. Ururu, can you do that tomorrow? …And I have to make a call soon.”

“Kisuke, you’re not—“

“You better fuckin’ believe I am.” Urahara says with a seriousness that wasn’t present even when he was apologizing. It was scary, almost, and hearing him curse too? “She probably didn’t tell you because of how you’d react. When you called me that time... it doesn’t matter. We need to play the hand we’ve been dealt.” I could feel Urahara’s reiatsu threatening to leak out. It was cold, but he was trying to reign it in. "But Unohana had no right to keep this from us. Why did I have to find out from Ichigo of all people?"

“ _ Souls of black and nights of white _ …” Tessai-san starts chanting. He begins drawing a circle in the air with his hand, “ _ Songs of birds with memories tight. Unite with me, a barrier worth keeping. Safe from harm, the maiden voyage. Place her in your arms and do well to sing with truth. Scream to the heavens and devour. Fū #72 Silent Song _ !”

The moment Tessai-san’s hand touches my throat, something feels wrong. I gasp out, panting heavily and sitting up almost immediately, my mobility being immediately shocked back into my body. “Wh-What…?” My voice sounds so… small. So hoarse and I look up at him, but Tessai-san is starting up another chant.

“ _ Dreams of night and heart of stars. Bleed the night into the day. Nothing but inky black will be left. We stare into the void and the void stares back. Unharmed, it makes us. Strength, it will leave behind. A journey through pain and into the light. Kaidō #48 Dream Eater _ !” Tessai-san’s hand comes down right on top of my head and I feel… nothing. I look up at him, expectant, but he’s already turned to look at Urahara.

“Hoshiko,” Urahara nods at Tessai-san. “You won’t be able to really talk while your body adjusts to the seal… if you do talk, it can’t be much more than a whisper.” Urahara explains, “We’re lucky Tessai-san was here, otherwise your vocal chords would’ve been completely destroyed from all the screaming you’ve been doing.”

I only nod. I know the gist of what’s going on, just by hearing the names of the Kidō spells Tessai-san used on me— _ Silent Song  _ is probably what he used to seal my sonic scream off. Well, that was rather short lived. And  _ Dream Eater _ is probably going to help me not have as many nightmares, which I’m more than thankful of. Why didn’t Unohana use these on me? Or maybe she had, and it just wore off.

Kidō, from what I remember learning about it, wears off on a target eventually. It was just due to time that it wore off, or when the person died. Tessai-san, from what I remember about the manga, was a Kido  _ master _ . I  _ think _ he was leader of the Kido Corps? I’m not too sure about the details, but I knew that he was one of the best when it came to using Kido. I trusted his abilities, as did everyone else in the room.

I still felt… helpless. Ever since I finally passed out after my attempt to heal Ichigo after Aizen’s betrayal, I felt like everyone had been helping me. But did I really deserve it? I was overreacting, I mean. Sure, Mayuri was a terror, but... I should've been able to handle it. 

They seemed to think I deserved to be helped out so much despite what I thought—Sado, with all of his ‘older brother’ meddling and Uryu with his mom-like worriedness and even Ichigo with his… weird way of cheering someone up.

And then everyone here. I haven’t even been in their lives for that long and yet…

Urahara wipes tears from my face and props me up against him. “Aiya… Hoshiko-chan. What are we going to do with you?” His tone isn’t exasperated—it’s more filled with forced humor and parent-like concern.

“Double her training.” Yoruichi suggests and I can't tell if she's being serious or not. She has a general deadpan way of speaking that sounds like sarcasm most of the time. “It’s what my parents did.”

“I’m a new wave type of parent.” Urahara hugs me closer, “I coddle.”

“Doubling training  _ is _ coddling.” Yoruichi scoffs, “It shows you care enough to have her double prepared.”

“I… I’ll think about it.” But there’s a glint in Urahara’s eyes that says he’s already thought about it. “Hoshiko-chan, I’m going to move you since Ururu and Jinta still need sleep.” Without another word, Urahara picks me up and we leave the room. 

The room we enter smells like Urahara and I’m more than sure this is his bedroom. If this was before… I probably would’ve been blushing like crazy. I mean… Urahara, even now, was still an attractive and eligible bachelor. And I was in his  _ room _ . But… this was now and I felt more like he was some type of weird family member than someone I’d try my best pickup lines on.

Besides, I still didn’t even trust myself to speak too much.

Urahara set me down on the bed—which I’m surprised he had. He made Ururu and Jinta sleep in futons, but he had a large bed. “Okay…” Urahara grunts with effort, fixing me into the bed. He sits on the edge of the bed after I’m tucked under the covers and sighs once more. “You’ve been back less than a day and you’re already a handful.”

“I’m sorry…” I say, wincing at the sound. My voice sounds completely destroyed and I’m surprised I can even speak. It’s the only thing I feel like I can say. I mean, I was so much work… all because I’d gotten injured once. Sure, it was bad, but nobody saw the others going around screaming bloody murder because they got attacked.

I can’t even compare my suffering to theirs because we all had different experiences. Urahara chuckles breathily, rubbing my head. “If we didn’t want to take care of you, we wouldn’t.” He tells me as if he knows what I’m thinking. “You aren’t the burden you think you are—and I know how you think--so just focus on getting better and the rest will follow.”

“…Are you really going to double my training?” I ask quietly, finally feeling like I can use my body. I shift, pulling the blanket up higher.

“No.” Urahara laughs quietly. “I’m going to triple it. And you won’t be fighting Ururu anymore. You’ll be fighting me. We need you prepared for whatever comes next.”

“You mean Aizen.”

“Yeah, I mean Aizen.” He confirms. “Now that he’s got _that_ , he… he’ll be getting stronger. And everyone has to be prepared.” Urahara has that look in his eyes, like he’s already plotting something. “And… I know I can’t talk you out of helping.”

“You’re damn right!” I try to raise my voice, but it ends in me coughing and hacking. “I-I gotta do my part too!”

“Well, you definitely remind me of that person, but I knew that from the beginning. Now that Aizen knows it, I...” He comments wistfully, breaking off into a loud sigh. His eyes look far off, as if he’s remembering something. The look passes quickly and he tucks me in more. “Oh, my Star Child… goodnight.” Urahara turns to go, but I grab the back of his haori, pulling slightly. “Oh, how scandalous…” He says quietly, but gets back on the bed anyway. “Okay, Hoshiko-chan. Just for a little while.”

Urahara gets comfortable on the bed, shifting around and wrapping an arm around me, running his fingers through my hair. I instantly feel tired. “Goodnight.” I reply quietly. 

Tomorrow, I know there would be a lot to do—I’d have to apologize to Ururu and Jinta for whatever happened and… I’d have to get over this. I was physically healed enough, maybe I would start training again? I didn’t really know, but I knew something was coming.

And I’d have to deal with whatever it was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one (1) more chapter until we're finished with this arc! You guys are hating me, I know it.


	31. Soul Society: The Recovery Arc: Chapter 30 [END]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this arc, decided to do a double update to just End It All. So, that's the end of this arc, tell me what y'all think. Important notice at the bottom!

 

My dreams are much happier since Tessai-san did whatever he did to me. They aren’t the sugary kind of dreams that you’d think he’d have placed in there, but they’re calming. Barbeques with everyone or just walking down beside the riverbank or something like that. All in all, anything is better than seeing Mayuri and what else my mind can concoct that has to do with him. 

I still can’t use my scream and raising my voice over a loud speaking tone makes me cough and hack. I can feel the seal—which has taken the form of an odd mole on my neck—flare up every time I do so. It’s probably trying to remind me not to do anything crazy.

Most of the days afterwards pass by much the same—Urahara made good on his promise to triple my training schedule—I’m training every day and it’s always alternating so I don’t get complacent with it. One day I’m with Urahara and he’s teaching me the more advanced levels of the Seiru Style and then the next, I’m with Yoruichi who is throwing things at me and using her speed to help up my reaction times. I’ve gotten much better at throwing up shields and countering with Tsubaki—and healing as well.

I’m not good enough to call out the shields without a word, but I can call them up much quicker and the size range issue is only a thing of the past. Healing is much easier too—since I practice on animals and the like. Ururu and Jinta will go out at least once a day for two hours and bring back with them injured and near dead animals and I’ll heal them back to their former state.

Vaguely, I’ve been able to tell what the problems are—but I can only  _ see _ them, sort of like a picture appearing in my mind everytime I heal something. The only problem is, I can’t properly name it. Tessai-san has decided that I need a medical refresher course—which takes up my mornings now. I haven’t even been able to tell Tatsuki that I’m back. But I think, for now, it’s fine.

Everyone here is helping me for my sake, and I know that right now, I won’t be able to return the favor, but I plan to in the future. I’ll do whatever I can to return the favor to them. I’m grateful for all their help. I couldn’t have done this without them.

I feel kind of like… this might be what Inoue was missing—why she was so fixated on Kurosaki. Because she didn’t have a support system like this. Sure, she’d had Tatsuki, but Tatsuki wasn’t involved in all of this spiritual mumbo-jumbo. Ichigo, Sado and Uryu were. And out of all of them, Kurosaki was probably the most attractive option to her. 

There’s nothing wrong with doing things for Kurosaki—I’d done it before, with my healing—but right now, I was trying to get better for me. If I got better for me and learned to live for me and not to follow canon as I had been, I would… be able to help others and the rest would surely follow. I’d be more sure of myself, and that’s what my powers stemmed from—self-esteem. Self-confidence.

I couldn’t pity myself and go around feeling sorry for things out of my control. I couldn’t continue to let everyone else care for me. I had to heal myself. Others could only do so much for me.

That’s why I didn’t shy away from the triple training menu I got from Urahara and Yoruichi and the medical lessons Tessai gave me. I didn’t shy away from anything they were doing for me—I embraced it and I gave my all. If I was going to stand at the top with the others and not stare at their backs, I needed to work my hardest. I had the least bit of natural talent and the most advantage with being associated with Urahara and now Yoruichi.

I had to take advantage of it and not slack off.

But there were still other things I had to worry about as well. For one, I had decided against telling anybody about my encounter with Gin and his words. I can only hope that I won’t see him again, at least until we square off and end the Aizen conflict.

“...Is something wrong?” Urahara stands there, arm on Benihime’s shoulder to stop her from attacking me. I stand there, hands on my knees panting. “You seem distracted, Hoshiko-chan.”

“Yes,” Benihime’s silky voice follows Urahara’s words, “One would do very well not to be distracted by lesser things and feelings when facing off against an elegant and oh so deadly Zanpakuto such as myself. It may very well end your life, even accidentally. What ails you, Hoshiko-san?”

“It’s just...” I stand, looking at them. It had been only a few days since I was introduced to Benihime formally. 

Through the use of some device Urahara had conjured up, I was able to face off against the Zanpakuto directly. Why Urahara had decided to go this route, I didn’t know, but either way, I got to meet Benihime in person, and that was more than I could say for anybody else. As far as I remember, Benihime never appeared anywhere aside from in her sword form. She was a beautiful zanpakuto and an even prettier lady, gorgeous, one could say, though it was clear she could get very jealous of people interacting with Urahara, it was a wonder she took a shine to me, or so Urahara says.

Benihime wasn’t a nice woman to many, she seemed to dislike Ururu and Jinta and go as far as to say she outright hated Yoruichi and only tolerated her because she was friends with her beloved Kisuke. She seemed to like Tessai-san, though and thought Ichigo would look rather ‘fetching’ in more traditional clothing. 

Benihime was tall, much taller than me even with her sandals being rather low to the ground--for battle purposes, she’d said--and she was always dressed immaculately in flowing kimono and decorations in her long, flowing black hair. It was odd to me how she managed to always have a different kimono each time she was released.

She spoke traditionally, using olden words and such, so sometimes it was hard to get her meaning—for me at least. Urahara seemed completely content and easily able to understand her. “I’m thinking about Tatsuki.”

“Oh?” Urahara waves his fan. Benihime turns her head to him, a thin eyebrow raised, “Tatsuki-chan is Hoshiko-chan’s best friend. Apparently she can see spirits, but that’s about it.”

Benihime nods, “What is your dilemma with this... Tatsuki? Has she wronged you? I can...” She lifts her sword, pointing to it.

“No, no. Nothing like that. Thanks for the offer, but no. Tatsuki is my best friend.” I wave my hand. Benihime lowers her sword, frowning slightly, “I just... before we left to Soul Society, I had told her some things... not  _ a lot _ , but... I felt bad kind of leaving her out of the loop.”

“Commoners such as those who may only view upon spirits and not enter their world have no place knowing about such things,” Benihime runs a finger down her blade, “You should not feel this way. Not allowing her to know anything is more than likely the better option.”

“I know, but...”

“Hoshiko-chan,” Urahara speaks up, “Do you really want to tell her? What you’ve been through? Do you want her to know, knowing that she can’t do anything about it? Even knowing how...” Urahara coughs, "Are you sure you want her to know, knowing that she cannot help you?"

“I...” I frown. 

This is what I had been battling with. Whether I should tell Tatsuki. I mean, did she really deserve to know? Well, that’s a harsh way of putting it... But, it wasn’t like... she could do anything. Benihime had a point. What would happen if I told her? Would it be anything good? Or would she dismiss it? Maybe even get irrationally angry about it. I don’t know. 

I rub the back of my head, “I don’t want to keep secrets. I feel bad...not being able to tell her exactly what I’ve been doing, but...” Even though I’m keeping a huge one from everyone here. “But I’m also worried about how she’ll react. I don’t want to lose her. She's my best friend, after all.”

“Ah,” Urahara nods, “Well, how about this? If she mentions it, then you tell her, if she does not, then you don’t have a reason to tell her. But,” Urahara walks towards me, “I had a feeling something like this would come up sooner or later.” He pulls something out of his robe pocket. It’s a device shaped similarly to a pen. I stare at it before looking back at him. “If you press this button, she’ll forget you ever told her anything. For... whatever you decide.”

“I...” I take the pen from him, “Alright.” I walk over to my bag and put the pen inside, “I guess... that’s that.”

“Are you ready to continue, Hoshiko-san?” Benihime raises her blade once more, “I won’t hold back just because you are recovering. I am not the coddler that Kisuke-sama is. I prefer rougher methods to show my affection towards others. However, I must remind you who holds Kisuke-sama’s heart. Because as I stand here, it seems as if both you and Kisuke-sama himself, have forgotten such things.”

Okay, well... I guess Benihime liked me a little... but she’d never like anyone as much as Urahara. “Benihime-san, you can keep him, really. I only work for him, but regardless,” I take up a fight stance, Tsubaki, Hinagiku and Baigon at my side, “I’ll fight you.”

* * *

And now, I had to think of what was coming next. In my rare moment of downtime—watching Jinta play soccer with the neighborhood kids because Urahara thought I needed to get out of the  _ Itami no Sekai _ and Jinta wanted to show how good at soccer he was—I was finally able to think of future events.

Aizen… was he coming up next or was it something else? I hadn’t been to my home in a while—just to retrieve clothes and necessary items since I was basically living full time at the Urahara Shop until school started up again—so I hadn’t really had the time to check the crudely drawn timeline that I’d stapled to the underside of my bed lest Urahara find it. I didn’t want that set of questions arising.

The biggest question was, Aizen or…? If there was something between now and Aizen… that’d give us a boatload of time. The next thing, if I remember correctly, would either be the Bount Invasion or that. And that was… well, it wasn’t horrible, if it was the Bounts. Well, it wasn’t horrible before I arrived and considering me just being here changes things up, well, who knows what would happen during that?

I couldn’t remember exactly what went on during the first part, but I had vague memories of a girl with blonde hair and something about a gate. Urahara might’ve been involved somewhere, but who knew what would happen now that I was involved? I just had to chance it since I didn’t know how much I was going to change. “Good shot!” I throw my hands up as Jinta scores a goal, looking back at me expectant.

“Heh.” He brushes his nose with his thumb, “Nothin’ to it. Just watch me!” I smile back at him, waving.

The Bount Invasion was  _ fuzzy  _ at best, but… I think there was another Soul Society invasion during it. Jeez, these people just get invaded left and right, it seems like. But it wouldn’t be anything we can’t handle if we continued to get stronger.

As much as I hated it when I was  _ out there _ , I really felt like I needed it now that I was  _ in here _ . This was… well, my chance to get stronger. I wasn’t going to sit idly by and just let things progress as they did. I needed to be more proactive. Inoue Hoshiko couldn’t just sit around waiting for things to happen to her, she had to make them happen herself.

“You look deep in thought.” The old bench bends and creaks under the weight of someone new and I turn, seeing Ichigo sit down next to me. He leans back, making himself more comfortable and I raise an eyebrow. “Karin.” He answers my unasked question, “And… to a lesser extent, Yuzu.” I follow his gaze, noting the two twins standing out on the field.

I smirk, seeing how Jinta reacts to Yuzu’s appearance. “Jinta has a crush on Yuzu.” I inform him, looking at him to gauge his reaction.

“She’s always shopping at your store.” Ichigo says instead, “She says it’s the prices, but there’s a Bodega near the house that’s just as cheap.”

“So then.” A smirk slides onto my face, “What’s the game plan?”

“I’ll start shopping for the food from now on.” Ichigo says, his voice devoid of humor. "It's for the best."

I scoff, slapping his arm and he laughs, sitting up. “Oh,  _ c’mon _ !”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Ichigo laughs, “Don’t hit me, I’m recovering. I'm wounded.”

“Recovering from what? A bruised ego?” I snort, leaning back on the bench. “Cause I got _all_ the injuries, we know that much. Though maybe it’s your nose... since I landed on your face and all. It is lookin’ a little weird.”

Ichigo seems… different since we’ve gotten back—sure, this is the first time I’ve seen him in about a week and a half, but he seems more easy-going and not as uptight. It’s a change, but it’s not unwanted. Maybe he’s just more used to my presence?

“How about shut up?” Ichigo says instead of insulting me back. I laugh, smacking his arm again. “But Yuzu—I love her dearly—is kinda… on the dumb side. Like my idiot father.”

“Ah…” I say lightly, nodding, “Then it’s best not to get involved. Let’s watch from the sidelines. I’m rooting for y’all. Jizu and all that.”

“Don’t combine names, please don’t, that sounds horrid.” Ichigo laughs again, before the smile drops and he looks serious. “I felt your reiatsu spike a couple days back… you okay?” He’s not looking at me, but I can see that his face is drawn tightly. “Chad called me that night too.”

“Why would he go to  _ you _ when it was  _ me _ who was in trouble?” I snort, trying to make light of the situation. “But… it’s fine… it’s been handled. I should thank you, though. I didn’t want... Urahara to find out about what happened, but you told him anyway and... well, I guess that was for the best.”

“I... I just wanted to help you get better.” Ichigo frowns, looking down, “...What happened?”

I don’t know if he’s expecting an actual answer or not, but knowing him, I don’t think he’s going to push for one. I sigh, shrugging. I could tell him—I did consider him a friend, and we were involved with all the same things. And he did help me out back in the Soul Society. Our couple of heart-to-hearts that we had.

“Ah… I was screaming again.” I don’t know if he’d ever heard me scream or not, but judging from how he didn’t seem surprised by it, I guess I had done some of my night terror-unconscious screaming when he was in the vicinity. Boy, that was embarrassing. “So… now I can’t yell much anymore.”

“I think that’s for the best.” Ichigo comments after a few minutes of silence. “Your voice is already pretty high and squeaky. Your screaming would probably just give me a headache.”

“Wow, you’re just full of insults today.” I roll my eyes, but there’s a smile on my face. “I mean, you don’t see me for a week and a half and all you can do is insult me? I thought we were friends.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder. But in this case, I guess it’s more like… ‘Absence makes the insults stronger’.” Ichigo shrugs. “We are friends, this is how I show I like people. Remember what Chad said about me?”

“Mr. Comedian, huh? Wait till I tell Tatsuki!” I threaten, humor all over my tone.

“You wouldn’t.” Ichigo looks at me with wide eyes and I laugh, shaking my head.

“I dunno.” I eventually say, “I might… would she even believe me? I doubt it. But I promised myself that if we made it back in one piece, I’d tell her everything… I don’t want to leave her in the dark like we’ve been. And then I talked to Urahara about it and... yeah.”

“Makes sense. I say go for it, what’s the worst that can happen?” Ichigo nods. I'm surprised he's not all against my decision to tell Tatsuki. One would think he would be, but he looks as if he'd expected it. 

“Really?” I question, “That’s... it? That’s all? Just... ‘go for it’?”

“I mean, yeah.” Ichigo shrugs, “It looks like you’ve beaten yourself up about it enough. It’s been a long time, you’ve probably been thinking about it for a while, so there’s no reason for me to stop you. What could happen? Tatsuki actually beating me up? I’m already prepared for that. I was prepared for it with Urahara, but it never came so...” 

“Well... thanks for your seal of approval, then. He’s much too busy beating himself up about that whole thing.” I pull on his ear, “Seems like someone’s matured. Maybe this is what Sado was talking about, Kurosaki Ichigo, I might be falling for you.”

“Shut up.” Ichigo pushes my hand away, chuckling. He then sobers up almost immediately. “I... I wanted to ask. Has… Urahara told you anything else? Like about what Aizen said?”

“Not really.” I tell him. We were saving having that conversation for another day. Whoever that person was, I still didn’t know. And Urahara still didn’t know about the extent of my time in the Soul Society, but Yoruichi looked rather pale when I asked her about what kind of call Urahara was making. She never answered, so I let it drop. I’d probably find out eventually.

“But…” And I’m debating on telling Ichigo this. I don’t think it matters too much to him either way, “He did tell me more about the Hōgyoku—and where he thinks Aizen might be.”

“Oh?” Ichigo says it as if he’s telling me to go on. Now that we were talking about it, I kind of wanted Sado and Uryu here—we were a team, more or less, so I wanted us all here to have this discussion.

“Yeah…” I confirm with a slight nod. “But I don’t think it matters much yet. We can wait a few days before talking about that.”

“We need Chad and Uryu.” Ichigo is quick to pick up on it. I nod, thoroughly impressed. “I haven’t seen much of them. Lately I’ve just been taking over the Shinigami duties like before—did you know we had a Shinigami assigned to Karakura?”

“Yeah, he’s stopped by the store a couple of times.” I’d only ever seen the man in passing, so I couldn’t remember his name or much about him. “According to Jinta, that man sleeps on the job and seems kind of useless.”

“Yeah, he is.” Ichigo looks like he’s well-acquainted with these facts. He shakes his head, “But he can sleep, I don’t care. He was no help those couple of times anyway.”

“Oh,” I snap my fingers, “You should come by the shop one of these days. Since Rukia isn’t here anymore, Urahara wants to put that hollow tracking app on your phone.” 

Ichigo pulls out his phone, flipping it open and handing it to me. It takes me a couple of seconds to realize what he wants me to do and I punch in my number. Well, this would  _ also  _ make things a lot easier.

“That’d certainly be helpful. The badge alerts me when they’re nearby, but I always end up running around looking for the hollow because I don't know which way to go. And because of it, Uryu keeps beating me to the hollows.” Ichigo grumbled, taking back his phone. “But… surprisingly, he doesn’t take them down, only wounds them and leaves them for me. He's never there when I arrive though.”

That was...  _ odd _ . I hadn't felt Uryu’s reiatsu since we got back. It couldn't have been Uryu taking down these hollows. Was it the Bount? Or someone else entirely? 

“How sweet, a partnership now that your beloved is gone.” I tease, deciding to ask Urahara if he'd noticed anything strange later. Ichigo sputters, blushing wildly. “Or did y’all just say screw the middle man, I already have a man! I'm jealous.”

“C-Can you  _ shut up _ about that! Gosh! Nobody liked Rukia like that! And I don’t like Uryu like that either!” Ichigo defends, glaring at me. “You don't see me making jokes like that about you!”

“Could’ve fooled me! The way y’all bicker and argue. Like a married couple, who knows? I’m not judgin’ ya though.” I chuckle, “But who would you make jokes about me with like that? Sado? Pssh, he really is a lady killer, I don't think I could handle that.”

“Yeah… whatever.” Ichigo leans back, looking up at the sky. “So… you’re okay?”

“Define okay.” I sigh out heavily, “I don't mean to sound all dreary and poetic and full of Teenage Angst or whatever, believe me, I barely have enough energy to do that these days with all this training and high speed recovering, but... I mean… are we  _ all _ okay? We just survived a near-death experience nearly three weeks ago. How are  _ you _ dealing with that?”

Ichigo was the type to never let anything get to him—at least, what I know of him from the manga and anime. Now that I was here… Ichigo was a gray area. It was hard to think of what he would say and do next—like right now. Here he was, sitting on this park bench, laughing and joking with me. This wasn’t the Ichigo I thought I would get to know, and yet here he was. It was all so weird, knowing them personally and finding out how similar and different they were.

It was taking some time getting used to, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

“It’s…” Ichigo trails. He looks to be searching for the right words. “It’s  _ difficult _ . I... That time, it was really... it felt like it didn’t happen, but it did happen. There was so much at stake, with you guys being seperated from me and rescuing Rukia and then uncovering that whole conspiracy thing. I still think about it--how we all almost died there. But then... a part of me,” Ichigo clutches his chest, “A part of me wants... wants more action. But I feel like… I shouldn’t feel that way? I don’t know. It’s all confusing.”

“We all handle things differently.” I say, trying to be wise with my words. “You liked the fighting, didn’t you?”

“Yes and no.” Ichigo responds. “I… I don’t like fighting for no reason or just to do it—like Kenpachi.” I nod, taking in his words.

“Well, you'd have to be a special brand of crazy to get off on a fight.” I tap my finger against my chin, “But getting an A.E. is something you've done before.”

In this way, Ichigo and Sado were much alike. Sado used to fight just because he was bigger, but now, he didn’t often fight without a reason or cause to fight.

“Wh-What's an A.E.?” Ichigo asks, though he looks afraid to do so.

“I think I'll let you figure it out. Unless you wanna tell him?” I turn, seeing Sado standing behind us. Ichigo jumps, not having noticed Sado standing there. Sado rounds the bench and throws a hand up in greeting. There’s not much room for him on the bench, so I look around before pointing to a tree, “Let’s go sit in the shade, huh?”

Neither protest the idea and we move, still being in view of the soccer game, but with room for the three of us to sit down. “What brings you out here, Sado?”

“I sensed you and Ichigo together.” Sado says simply, looking over the two of us. “I know that Hoshiko has been at Urahara’s, so I thought she’d have new information.” 

It seemed like we were all trying to get a jump on the next thing. But depending on what it was… having this information so early would just have it shoved onto the backburner if it turned out that the Bounts were next.

“Not much more than you, I’m afraid.” I tell him, “I know approximates, but I was waiting for Uryu to show up. We probably won’t see him readily until school starts.” Sado nods, probably having expected the same thing.

“I’ve been training.” Sado finally goes to answer my question, “But some days it’s hard to do anything… I saw a lot there.” It goes unsaid of his meaning, but I can tell that I’m more aware of what he means than Ichigo is. 

Sado is having nightmares. 

Of what, I’m unsure, but he has them and I’m more than sure that sometimes they are hard to deal with.

Ichigo still looks confused, but I don’t make any moves to tell him the meaning of Sado’s words. “So have I.” I supply, “Urahara’s got me on triple time. This is my only break.”

“Yoruichi’s been to see me every other day.” Sado admits, “And she’s always throwing things at me. And days when I don’t see her, I have to do her training regimen. I’m dying. I should’ve taken out the life insurance.”

That was surprising to hear—were the two of them really worried about the coming war against Aizen? So much so that they felt the need to train Sado and I personally? I didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted. If they took the time to train Sado and I—much more than they did Ichigo, did that mean we were weak or strong?

I didn’t even include Uryu in the equation because he was a Quincy, and no matter what, he was always going to have to train alone, because I don’t think Urahara had anything that could help Uryu get better. Besides, from what Ichigo said, if that was Uryu taking down those hollow within an inch of their afterlife for Ichigo to finish off when he couldn’t get there in time to fight from the start.

“Me too.” I sigh, looking down. “She’s a mean, mean cat lady.”

“You guys are getting training?” Ichigo looks surprised, “Wh-Why am I not getting any? What am I, chopped liver?”

“No, you’re a Shinigami.” I correct him. “There’s not much difference, but I swear there’s one.” Ichigo looks at me and I shrug, sticking out my tongue at him. Yeah, I was a little shit. Someone had to be.

“It’s probably because you can practice on hollow more readily than we can.” Sado guesses with a shrug. “Your power is more instant than ours.”

“You could probably ask Urahara when you come for the hollow tracker.” I suggest, tapping my chin. “I mean, he’s always fighting me—of course, it’s usually Hakuda and my powers, but I’m sure he could make time for you.”

“Hoshiko, what did Urahara tell you?” Sado interrupts, steering the topic back on track. “Anything about Aizen?”

“Yeah, he told me where he might be, but it’s nowhere we can get to by ourselves.” Urahara would have to get us there when it finally came down to it. And I hoped that when it did, I wasn’t the one getting rescued. “Uryu’s probably going to want to know too.”

“Tch, four-eyed bastard.” Ichigo grumbles, crossing his arms.

“Hey, Uryu is on Team Karakura, you gotta be nicer!” I scold him, flicking his nose. “His glasses are his appearance charm point.”

“No, it’s his hair.” Sado argues, “It’s a nice black-blue color. Obvious charm point.”

“Or his pale skin. He’s like… two shades lighter than the moon—or a piece of paper!” I shoot back. Sado seems to consider it and nods.

“Possibly…” He relents slightly. “What’s mine?”

“What are you talking about this? We were  _ just _ trying to have a serious discussion! How can you switch topics, so quickly?” Ichigo nearly yells, looking at us, but I pay him only a little mind. This was an important conversation, you know.

“Your hair. It’s so nice and curly. Or maybe your muscles. I’m sure the girls go wild for that.” I tap my chin, “Do me next!”

“Okay, hm…” Sado places a hand to his chin, thinking.

“Your stupid ‘can-do’ attitude.” Ichigo supplies, “Or maybe the fact that you look like a chipmunk or a hamster.”

“ _ What _ !” I cry out, pouting. “I do  _ not _ look like a chipmunk or a hamster!”

“Yes, you do.” Ichigo grabs my cheeks, mushing them together. “Look, chipmunk-status already, right Sado?”

“You  _ do _ look rather cuddly and cute like a hamster, Hoshiko.” Sado nods, “Ichigo’s right on this one.”

“Well I’d rather be cuddly and cute than look like a yard stick! Who is going to want to date that?” I throw out, slapping Ichigo’s hands away. I hold my cheeks—I knew they were fluffy, but c’mon, you don’t gotta do that to me, Ichigo!

Ichigo scoffs, “I thought we were having a nice time, and then you insult me.” Ichigo stands, “It’s almost dinnertime, so I’m leaving.”

“Fine! Leave! They all come crawling back some day! Especially the yard stick ones! They all want a piece of the Hoshi!” I wave him away. Ichigo leaves shortly after that, calling Karin and Yuzu to leave with him. Sado and I stay underneath the tree. “Ah… why are they training us so hard, Sado?”

“It’s only a natural reaction.” Sado wisely answers, “After an event like that, it’s only natural, we’d need to get stronger. It’s not going to end there, we all know it.” I sigh loudly again, laying my head in Sado’s lap. He pats me on the head. “They’re only looking out for us because they know if they don't do so, we’ll just go find more trouble.”

“I wish they’d look a little less.” I confess, staring up at the sunlight streaking down through the leaves. “N-Not that I don’t appreciate it, but…”

“It’s fine how it is.” Sado says quietly, “Aizen is a powerful guy and… in his face next time, I don’t want to feel like that.”  _ Powerless… Helpless… Weak.  _ It all went unsaid, but I knew what he meant. I nodded, frowning. “He... took me down so easily. I thought I was going to die.”

Sado looks down at his fist. He was probably coming to terms with his utter defeat at Aizen’s hands. Just like how I had come to realize how easily Mayuri could have killed me, Sado was more than likely doing the same. We both weren't cut out for this stuff, but we would be.

“That’s how I felt… the night we got back.” I tell him quietly. “I had a nightmare and they had to seal off a portion of my power to stop me from hurting myself. But… for your nightmares… Tessai-san used a Kido spell on me. He could do it if you asked, I think.”

“I think I’ll be fine for now.” Sado pats my head. I sit up and turn, looking at him. We exchange a glance that says all it needs to and I nod. Sado stands, waving before he leaves.

Summer break was ending, and soon we’d have to get back to school. And when school arrived, who knew what was coming next. Aizen or something else? I wasn’t sure if we were in any way prepared for either of them, but I would try my damn hardest to be.

“Oi, Hoshiko!” Jinta calls, waving his arms wildly, “Let’s get going! Tessai wants you to help cook dinner!” I stand, approaching Jinta. He meets me halfway, near the bench.

“Jinta.... about the other night...” I hadn’t really had much of a chance to talk to him or Ururu, since Urahara and the other adults had occupied most of my time. I still wanted to say at least...  _ something _ about what happened the other night, but I’d never gotten the chance to do so.

Jinta and I stare at each other for a good long while before Jinta looks away, clicking his teeth.

“Tch.” Jinta crosses his arms, “It’s... You were... really scared, huh?”

“I... yeah.” I eventually say, unsure of what else I can say to him. “I’m... I’m sorry you guys had to deal with that.”

“Well,” Jinta finally says, leveling me with a hard gaze. “You don’t have to be scared anymore.” He punches his fist into his waiting palm, “Cause whatever comes next, I’ll take it out for you.”

“Hah!” I laugh, ruffling his hair. “My hero.” Jinta doesn't grumble or scowl at me when I ruffle his hair, I guess he was giving me a freebie.

“Don’t worry so much about it.” Jinta finally says, though he’s turned so he’s not looking at me, “People like us... we... we have to look out for each other, you know? We’re the Urahara Shoten workers, so it's only natural, right? …So whatever happens, we’ll all be there by your side.”

I stare at Jinta’s back, surprised at how mature he sounded. It honestly made me feel a lot better. “You know, Jinta... you can be kind of... cool sometimes.”

“I’m cool  _ all _ the time!” Jinta protests, looking back at me. I ruffle his hair and run ahead. “Get back here, dumbass! I can’t protect you if you don’t stay where I can see you!”

So, the big question was, Aizen or what? It didn’t matter, I still had to get stronger either way, and I would do just that.

Just watch me.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These scenes just write themselves sometimes. Well, onto the next arc. sarcastic and friendly ichigo is goals. who knew homeboy could make jokes ???
> 
> Itami no Sekai means "pain world" which is a nickname the shop employees call the training ground underneath Urahara shop. cause whenever they're down there, they're in for a world of pain.
> 
> !!!! IMPORTANT !!!!
> 
> I'mma take a Short Haitus until some time in February, so that I can research and finish planning this arc outline. So, if you're missing these characters, come talk to them on the blog! once again, that link is hoshikonobleach.tumblr.com
> 
> Also! A friend of mine drew some things for two chapters currently & those will be posted on the blog as well! Check 'em out!


	32. The Bount Arc: Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaannnndd we're BACK! With the BOUNT ARC. Hope y'all don't hate me for this lmao. This one is gonna be LONG. This filler was a MESS. omg y'all I watched it and the animation took the HEAVIEST HIT. Like I was watching it and y'all don't UNDERSTAND. that was too funny I was DYING.
> 
> Anyway, let's enjoy this family bonding friendship time during this Uryu-centered Arc. Yes, my Quincy Son gets to Shine. butnotreallycausehegetskidnappedlikeeverybodyelsebutichigo

 

With the coming of the new semester, my body was going haywire with nerves. I had already ‘moved’ back into my apartment now that I was fully healed and capable of taking care of myself. Urahara’s training lessened, since it was nearing school time and I couldn’t handle all the training he was putting me through as well as going to school. We were back to the odd-even schedule and I’m not exactly sure if I’m happy about it.

I feel… I feel like we shouldn’t just be _going_ to school as if nothing was going to be happening. I fidgeted on my way to class. Was this really right?

Sure, Urahara had exhausted himself (to the point where he ended up just making a recording of himself saying these words repeatedly) telling me over and over that Aizen’s arrival wouldn’t be for quite some time—there was a lot Aizen still had to do, he’d told me—He even had charts and diagrams and ugly drawings as well as a musical number starring himself, Benihime and Yoruichi as a rather convincing Aizen, but that didn’t make me any less restless.

What Aizen had to do, I wasn’t sure and Urahara didn’t seem to know much that didn’t concern the Hōgyoku, only speculations he’d had about Aizen. Aizen was a tricky bastard—it seemed like only he knew what he had to do and I surely couldn’t tell anyone what I knew—my memory was failing, I was forgetting things.

I was forgetting what comes next too. Would Aizen come attack us directly, or would we have to deal with another threat? And was he just stalling us for time? Saying _‘Hey I didn’t forget, I’m just busy, so deal with this until I’m ready for you.’_ It was hard to tell at this point, really. It’d been weeks since he revealed himself and there hadn’t been much of a peep from the Soul Society. Not even from Rukia to say hey or something. I wasn’t mad, she was probably busy, like the rest of us had been with our recovery and then our training.

However, no matter what happened, we would still, eventually, have to deal with Aizen. It didn’t matter if it was sooner or later, he was still someone that had to be dealt with. I also hadn’t seen Ichigo since that day in the park—I’d seen Sado because Yoruichi and Urahara loved making us fight each other—but to round out our group, I hadn’t sensed Uryū’s movement as a Quincy either, so, Ichigo was wrong in saying that Uryu was wounding hollow around town. Uryu’s reiatsu was so… low.

I knew he was fully recovered, probably one of the least injured out of the four of us, and yet… he seemed the most powerless. What happened to him? I hadn’t spoken to him since and unlike with Ichigo and Sado, I didn’t have his phone number or an address to go to. Plus, I didn’t want to show up uninvited. I hadn’t met Uryu’s dad, but I still thought he was a little scary.

But this made it easy to deduce that it was someone else wounding hollow—I don’t know who, but there could only be a couple of people.

It couldn’t have been Sado, because Yoruichi was his main opponent most of the time, though he did mention he occasionally ran into a hollow, but he did have the ability to finish them off—whether this upset the balance because of the need of a Konso, I didn’t know, but Urahara hadn’t mentioned anything, so I don’t think it did.

Going back to that, I doubted it was Urahara, since he was mostly always with me. Tessai-san never really left, aside from going out to buy more supplies, but he was always on standby to heal my injuries. It wasn’t Jinta or Ururu either, so I don’t know who it could be.

Possibly Yoruichi, but highly doubtful. Besides, it didn’t seem like she ever really used her Zanpakutō for anything. I don’t even recall seeing her carry it around much. And she was generally with Sado, as I mentioned before.

Who else could it have been then? Well, it’s not like it matters too much. They’re hollow and in the end, Ichigo is cleansing the ones that he comes across, so it’s really fine in the end, though odd. I didn’t mention it to Urahara, because I knew he would give me a cryptic response and I didn’t want to deal with that.

I shook it off, there was no point in worrying about it for now. Aizen and who was destroying hollow could wait until a later time. Right now, I had to get to class, as much as I didn’t want to.

I enter the classroom, looking around and spotting Tatsuki. “Tatsuki!” I yell out, stopping in front of her desk. I’m sure the smile on my face is wide and lopsided. She looks up, almost surprised to see me before standing and wrapping me in a hug with the desk between us. “Someone’s happy to see me!”

“You bet I am!” Tatsuki pulls away, grinning. “My arm’s all healed!” She flexes, “Augh, it was so boring, my break. All we did was hang out at Grandma’s…” Tatsuki frowned, rolling her eyes, “So, what did you do all break?”

“Oh, it’s a long… long… _long_ story.” I tell her, “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“It was weird—this morning, I saw Kurosaki and the weirdest thing—he wasn’t with Rukia. And I mentioned it to the others and they didn’t know _who_ I was talking about—they thought I made her up! They… I thought they were joking, but when I went to find her name on the class roster to prove that I wasn’t crazy and… it wasn’t there. But… I’m not crazy, right?” Tatsuki’s eyes search my face for an answer and… I’m honestly shocked. “Y-You’re looking at me like I’m crazy. I didn’t just imagine her, right? I… I definitely remember…”

She… remembered Rukia? This was… How could she remember Rukia? She couldn’t even see the hollow when it attacked the school back in July! Maybe she’d been doing a lot more than just hanging out at her grandmother’s house.

I blink, watching her. “No! No, T-Tatsuki…” I breathe out. She looks as if she’s going to cry, “I… It’s a long story. Wha-What happened to Rukia has pretty much _everything_ to do with my break.” The door opens and I hear Keigo’s loud voice followed by Ichigo’s annoyed one and I sigh, shaking my head.

“What do you mean? Is she okay? Is she coming back?” Tatsuki tilts her head, her tone full of concern.

“I… no, I don’t think so.” I didn’t know when Rukia would be returning, and I couldn’t remember whether or not she’d be coming back to school again either. “Just… uh, don’t mention Rukia again until we talk, okay? Don’t mention this to _anyone_.”

Slowly, Tatsuki nods and Sado walks over, followed by Ichigo and Mizuiro. “Oh, Tatsuki, what’s up?” Ichigo greets her with a wave. “It’s been a long time.”

Tatsuki nods, greeting him back, a casualness sliding into place as she pretends our conversation didn’t happen. Quite the actor, she is.

“Yeah, a long time indeed. You weren’t home at all during break, according to Keigo who kept calling me and whining about it.” Tatsuki crosses her arms and rolls her eyes once more. I can’t help but laugh—why did Keigo even have Tatsuki’s number in the first place?

“How did Keigo even get your number?” Mizuiro questions, pulling out his phone, “You don’t seem the type to willingly give it out.”

“Ah, I think it was _someone_ …” She pointedly glared at me. “Letting someone else use my phone.”

I throw my hands up in mock surrender, laughing slightly, “Sorry, Tatsuki… I don’t remember that.” Tatsuki glares at me, huffing out a heavy breath and crossing her arms.

“But, it seems like Ichigo and Sado have really nice tans. Did you guys go somewhere for break? Even you, Inoue-san.” Mizuiro looks the two over. “Ah, and that scar on your arm, Inoue-san.” Tatsuki grabs my arm, looking at the scar that was left from Yachiru’s treatment.

Shinigami technology was advanced, but they still couldn’t heal injuries like I could.

“You all went somewhere for break _without_ me?” Keigo prances in, making Ichigo jump back, “And got poor Hoshiko-san injured? What’s wrong with you?”

Ichigo clicks his tongue, rolling his eyes, though he stares at the scar on my arm guiltily, “I don’t know where she got that scar from.” He finally says, sounding insulted, though his voice is wobbly with the lie. I take my arm back from Tatsuki, waving them off. Tatsuki watches us closely, obviously knowing something is up.

“It looks a lot worse than it was.” I lie, “I just slipped and fell!”

“Answer my question, Ichigo!” Keigo moves closer to Ichigo, staring him up and down. “Did you two go somewhere for break? Did something… _develop_?”

Oh, Keigo. I know you’re much more than comedic relief, but it’s hard to vouch for you when you do stuff like this. “Keigo, there’s no trampolines here.” I speak up. “So I wanna know what you’re doing.”

“T-Trampolines…? For what?” Keigo questions, confused.

Ichigo glares at him, chopping the boy on the head, “Cause you’re out here jumping to stupid conclusions.”

“Th-They’re… making two-part jokes together? Why can’t you do that with _me_ , Ichigo? Am I just another pretty face to you? But _apparently_ I’m not pretty enough! You _monster_!” Keigo screams, running away after insulting Ichigo once more. “After all we’ve been through? I thought we were _special_!”

“So, how were your breaks?” Tatsuki asks Ichigo and Sado, “Did you two really go somewhere? With Hoshiko too?”

“Ah… uh…” Ichigo looks from Sado to me and I shrug, wanting to see what he comes up with.

“Onsen…” Sado says quietly. “We… went to a Ryokan Onsen over break…”

“Ahaha yes!” Ichigo is quick to agree. “Ryokan Onsen! Ryokan Onsen! Ah…. Inoue had… a ticket? Group ticket. We took Uryū.”

“Mm.” I say, just to add in with them. “I would’ve invited you, but you were busy.”

Tatsuki stares at me, obviously not believing the lie for a second after all, I told her I’d tell her what I actually did for break later on. Tatsuki only nods, smirking slightly as she walks away. She was obviously just messing with them. We were so alike sometimes, it was scary.

“That was a horrible lie.” I tell the two, looking them over, “You should’ve just left it as it was.”

“I panicked!” Ichigo yelped, “And it’s not like you were of any help!”

“I also panicked.” Sado said, his voice much lower than Ichigo’s, “Arisawa… scares me.”

“Well, it’s fine, I guess.” I shake my head, “Just leave this as it is. I’ll deal with anything else. Gosh, with the way things are, maybe I should be the leader.”

“Not that again!” Ichigo rolls his eyes. “Does it matter who the leader is?”

Sado and I exchange glances, “Yes.”

 “Oi! Everyone, take a seat, let’s go!” Ochi-sensei calls into the room, effectively halting our conversation. I follow Tatsuki towards our seats, watching the sensei before my gaze—and Tatsuki’s is drawn towards the empty desk next to Ichigo.

It was hard, wondering when we would see Rukia again. Either way, we probably wouldn’t get much of a chance to catch up since whatever came next meant more fighting. Just as Ochi-sensei is going through her return-from-summer-break spiel, the door slides open. “Oi!” Someone calls.

“R-R- _Renji!_ ” I stand up, yelling. Ichigo copies me. What the hell was Renji doing here? Oh god, was this…?

“Oh, hello.” Ochi-sensei says, as calm as ever while Renji searches the classroom. I turn to look at Ichigo who has ducked into his desk, covering his head and trying not to be seen. “Who might you be?”

“Hello.” Renji greets her back but doesn’t say anything else and continues to look over the classroom.

Now, I hadn’t really interacted much with Renji—most of my time spent in the Soul Society during our recovery time was spent in the fourth division and with the Shinigami Women’s association—but I had seen Renji around and we did have one thing in common: our need to make sure our hair was the reddest it could possibly be, so from our small amount of time talking to each other (which usually occurred during meals because he was always in the fourth division hospital) we were somewhat well-acquainted through that, but our topics didn’t branch out much further than our beauty routines.

Who knew Renji was as into skin care and hair care as I was? Go figure.

“I was… hoping… _Hoshiko_?” He spotted me immediately, raising an eyebrow. “Oi, Hoshiko!”

“Inoue-san.” Ochi-sensei called, “Do you know him? Ah, your clothes, so nostalgic…”

“Ahaha…” I rub the back of my head. Thanks, Renji. Really, thank you so much. And thank you too, Ichigo. This was supposed to be _you_ interacting with him. I glance at the dumbass orange-haired boy who is steadily sinking into his desk, pretending like he wasn’t there at all. “He’s my… u-uh… _brother!”_

“Brother?” Ochi-sensei and a good portion of the class repeat. God, I was in for it now. Why would I say brother when everybody knows my brother is already dead? Jesus, I need to learn how to lie under pressure better…

Because everybody knew I had a brother, yes, but everybody also knew that that brother in question… was dead. A fact reinforced by my first actual moment in canon.

“Yes!” I quickly move out of my chair, “My… er, _half_ -brother… from… Iowa in the U.S and who I _told_ to stay home…” I glare daggers in Renji’s direction and in Ichigo’s direction as I approach the front of the classroom. “I’m so sorry, sensei. I told him to stay home.”

“Hah, what was that, brat? I came looking for—oi!” Renji cuts himself off, blocking my knee to his gut.

“I don’t _care_ what you came looking for!” I hiss at him. “Whatever it is, you can wait outside!” I grab him, and pull him out of the classroom, slamming the door shut behind us. I drag Renji down the hall and outside, throwing him up against a tree. I was _so_ going to get in trouble for cutting class… “Seriously! What the hell is wrong with you? And coming here dressed like that?”

“I should ask you the same. ‘Brother?’ There’s no way.” Renji crosses his arms, “Nobody’s gonna believe that.”

“The red hair gives it away, dumbass. If somebody were to pick us out of a lineup, they would totally think we’re related. You’re not as pasty as you’d like to think, you know. Also, that’s why I said half-brother. So we’re only partially related, you idiot. Thank god for that… Why are you here?” I flick him on the forehead. Renji glares, trying to do the same, but I step out of range.

“Tch, I came looking for Ichigo.” Renji glares at me as if he’d done nothing wrong. “Where is he?”

I turn, seeing Ichigo running outside after us, waving his hand. Sado follows behind him, jogging slowly. “Oi! Inoue!” Ichigo calls, stopping in front of us. “And… Renji, what the hell? What’re you even doing here?”

“That’s what I want to know! And how did you two get out?” I turn to them, raising an eyebrow.

“Chad’s sick.” Ichigo jerks a thumb while Sado rubs his stomach unconvincingly. “I’m taking him to the nurse.” I snort, giggling at their obvious lie. I’m pretty sure Ochi-sensei knew they were lying as well—unless Sado was a great actor.

“Tch,” Renji stands, winding his arm up, “Man, these Gigai are a pain… how did Rukia stay in this for so long?”

“Stop with the nonsense!” Ichigo yells, “Tell us why you’re here!”

“Yeah, tell us why you’re giving red-heads a bad name!” I demand, stomping my foot.

“And where you got these hideous clothes from? Uryu would be ashamed.” Sado shakes his head.

“Drop it—all of it! I’m just in charge of Karakura Town now.” Renji crosses his arms.

“In charge of Karakura?” I repeat. Didn’t we already have that sleepy afro guy in charge of Karakura? Why did they suddenly put Renji in charge of Karakura?

Renji nods, “I’m staying with Urahara and he told me where you were, so I came to see you.”

“Your reasoning is stupid. Why would you come to see _me_? I’m at school, so I don’t have time to play with you. Besides… don’t you have something to patrol instead?” Ichigo crosses his arm, then looks up, more than likely having thought of something. “But wait… aren’t you a lieutenant?”

“He _is_ a lieutenant.” I confirm with a nod, “He’s Byacchi’s lieutenant.” We’re quiet for a moment before Ichigo and I trade looks.

“So… Renji.” I grin, looking to Ichigo. Ichigo grins back, snickering and Sado looks rather confused.

“You got demoted, huh?” The two of us ask simultaneously. “I should’ve known someone like you couldn’t hold such a position for too long.” Ichigo scoffs, crossing his arms. I snicker, shaking my head.

“Poor Renji. We’re rooting for you. Ganbaro and all that noise.” I fist-pump. “You’ll get back in there, only a matter of time.”

Renji sputters, a vein popping on his forehead and blushing in embarrassment. “I-It’s not… y-you… Shut up! Both of you! Th-This is an honor and a privilege!!”

“I see that you’re trying to make the best of a bad situation. A good trait to have.” Sado claps a hand on Renji’s shoulder. “It’s always good to look at the bright side, even when you’ve been demoted.”

Renji nearly buckles under his weight, “Sh-Shut up! Besides, it’s not like that! I’m not demoted! It’s _your_ fault,” Renji points accusatorily at Ichigo, “If you weren’t throwin’ around ya fuckin’ spiritual pressure like it’s trash then I wouldn’t even have to be here!”

“What are you talking about?” Ichigo yells back, glaring.

“Actually, he’s right, Kurosaki.” I chime in, “You _do_ throw your reiatsu around carelessly—it’s probably why you were so easily found in the Seireitei.” Ichigo sputters, turning on me and staring like I’d betrayed him. I shrug, it was true. Ichigo’s overactive reiatsu was the reason we could find and keep track of him so, so easily.

It was a double-edged sword in how it worked—good for allies to find him, since it’s like a beacon, but also bad because it attracts unwanted attention. A strange beeping sound—something like a small growling noise starts sounding off and Ichigo’s… pants…? Start glowing?

“See!” Renji points at it. “This is what I was trying to tell you about!”

“Well you could’ve talked a little faster!” I scold him, turning. A bright light shines and the four of us see a hollow drop from the sky. It’s large, almost like a gorilla in appearance and it towers over the fence, growling lowly as it walks. It heads towards the school building, but walks as if it had no purpose.

“Kurosaki, Sado…” I look to the two boys, then to Renji, who is trying to leave his Gigai.

“This… is… so… hard!” Renji struggles to get out of his Gigai.

Sado can’t exactly go attack a hollow, since if anybody saw him, it’d look like he was going around punching the air—it’d be odd and hard to explain, but I could attack it, since Tsubaki could go a bit of distance and I could stay hidden. “Tch, I’ll go, hurry up, Kurosaki.”

“Inoue!” Ichigo calls after me. There’s an odd sound and the feeling of Ichigo’s spiritual pressure becoming clearer—he’s out of his body now.

“Tsubaki!” I yell out. Tsubaki removes himself from the hairpins, flying out as I point towards the hollow. “Run through him!”

In the time it takes to run over to where the hollow is, it’s already trying to jump the fence and climb through the window. Tsubaki doesn’t waste time, running through the hollow’s arms so that it falls over with a wail of agony and a large, ground shaking thud.

Ichigo jumps, howling out a battle cry and slicing the hollow in half. The hollow then disintegrates into nothing, the black of it fading out completely. “Oi, Kurosaki! Any later and I would’ve had that thing dead!”

“I’m _not_ supposed to be handling this right now! This is supposed to be Renji’s job!” Ichigo yells at me. Ichigo and I run back over to where Renji and Sado stand.

“Oh, good job.” Renji offers a thumbs up to us, “Your teamwork is pretty good.”

“This is _your_ job, Renji!” Ichigo grabs his body, entering it and rearing up on Renji. “Don’t show up here without a good goddamn reason!”

“Get back in your Gigai and go back to Urahara’s.” I poke Renji in the chest as Sado pulls Ichigo away.

“Don’t come back!” Ichigo yells once more and the three of us return to the school building. “Oi, Inoue.” Ichigo calls before we enter the classroom. “You work for Urahara… is Renji telling the truth?”

“Truthfully, I don’t know.” I tell him with a shrug.

I didn’t actually know whether Renji was telling the truth—I had a feeling this had nothing to do with Aizen, however, since I distinctly remember that Toshiro and the others come along with Renji, but there was nothing about Renji being the new Karakura Town protector. Did this mean that we were in filler town? Probably. That was good, though, we needed this. Making bonds and getting stronger, this was going to help us out immensely.

“It’s like… I remember that Urahara did get a call from the Seireitei a few days before break ended… but I was in the process of taking my things back to my apartment, so I don’t know what they said.”

Ichigo seems to turn my words over and eventually nods, approaching the door and opening it. “Ah, there they are—Kurosaki, Inoue. You all have detention for skipping class with Inoue’s cute brother. Tell Sado he can hide in the infirmary all he wants, but he will still get detention as well.”

Ichigo and I groan, entering the classroom to the snickers and giggles of the others, “But we came back! Doesn’t that count for _something_?” I can’t believe Sado left us behind. How rude was that? For a big guy, he was a lot sneakier than originally thought.

Ochi-sensei shakes her head, chuckling. “I give you an A for effort. Only an hour for you all then.” We all walk back to our seats, waiting for Ochi-sensei to continue the lesson. She turns back to the board before pausing and turning to face us. “Also… Inoue.” I look up, “Is your brother… single?”

I blanche at the implications.

* * *

Because we have detention, this gives us enough time to regroup and think. The teacher in charge of afterschool detention is snoring at the desk in the front while an old video from some kind of afterschool special plays on the TV he had rolled into the classroom. This really was 2001. It almost hurt me to be here. Ichigo, Sado and I—and Uryū, who has snuck into detention because the teacher watching us doesn’t even really watch us—have desks grouped together in the back corner to talk.

“Hoshiko-san.” Uryu says after we’re all situated. “You said you had some news?”

“Ah…” I nod, “I wanted us to all be on the same page with the whole Aizen sitch.” The three seem to straighten up when I mention his name. For good reason, we’d all been worried about it for some time. “In the simplest terms I can say this: Urahara says Aizen won’t be coming for quite some time.”

“Does he know how long?” Ichigo asks, “And about the Soul Society… about Rukia…”

“Rukia’s part in this is done. It was done when he tried to kill her after taking the Hōgyoku.” I tell him evenly, leveling my gaze across the three of them. “Urahara says there’s things Aizen needs to do before he can go on the attack. What those things are, aside from waiting for the Hōgyoku, we don’t really know.”

“I assume it’s something like building up his army.” Sado suggests, “It seems to most likely.” Uryu and I nod, agreeing with him.

“Something like that and he can’t readily use the Hōgyoku either. That’s what I know.” I finish, looking down at the desk. What the Soul Society—from my memories—had thought was that he would make his move in December, so there was still time before that. Though I do remember he moved earlier. Was this going to change because of me? I didn’t know.

“…So, what you’re saying is… for now, we don’t have to worry too hard about him.” Uryu connects, looking to me. I nod again, it was true that we didn’t have to worry, but that still didn’t mean that we wouldn’t be. I look to Ichigo who hasn’t said anything yet.

“…Do they know where he’s located?” Sado questions, leaning forward, “Or is he still undetectable?”

“They’ve got a notion.” I tell them. Telling them this information now wouldn’t do too much, “But like I said that day at the park—it’s somewhere we currently can’t get to and even if we could, Aizen would probably decimate us the moment we set foot there. Urahara is certain he’s gained more allies besides Captains Tōsen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin.”

“So, what do we do for now? I don’t like this sitting around and waiting nonsense.” Ichigo punches his open hand, frowning.

“What _can_ we do?” Uryu counters, turning his gaze to Ichigo specifically. “If Hoshiko-san says that Urahara-san said we can’t get there, then what can we do? And if Urahara-san can’t get there, then that definitely means that the Soul Society can’t.”

“We train.” I input, looking across them. “We’ve recovered from the Soul Society trip and we’ve got the time now. We need to get stronger in order to combat Aizen when the time comes. It’s… all we can do.”

The three—Ichigo, especially—look as if they don’t want to wait around and I share the sentiment, but there was really nothing we could do at the moment.

“Hey,” I wave my hand, getting their attention back and deciding we needed a lighter topic of conversation. “We should have a team name.”

“Team name?” Uryu and Ichigo repeat. Sado nods, reaching into his bag and pulling out a notebook.

“Yeah, me an’ Sado have been trying to come up with some, but they don’t sound that good.” I shake my head, “I mean, _Team Ryoka_ works but…”

“I personally liked _Team Diversity_.” Sado inputs, opening the notebook. “And _Team Rainbow_.”

“Didn’t you just call us _Team Karakura_ the other day?” Ichigo questions, “Why do we need a team name anyway?”

“ _Team Quincy_.” Uryu suggests. Sado and I stare at him blankly, “You weren’t coming up with anything better!”

“For that to work, we’d _all_ have to be Quincy. And second, that would mean _Uryu_ is the leader and he’s not. Having a team name and things like it would boost team morale, Kurosaki. It’s common knowledge.” I tell him, looking down at the notebook.

“Tch, I could be the leader. I’m much more reliable than Kurosaki’s ‘let’s charge in head first’ tactic!” Uryu grumbles, turning his nose up. Sado chuckles and I giggle, shaking my head while Ichigo sputters.

“I’d like to see you come up with a better tactic then!” Ichigo says hotly, standing slightly. Uryu does the same and Sado pushes them back down, effectively stopping them from arguing anymore. “You followed me there!”

“Yeah, Uryu. I mean, your greatest idea was to have Kurosaki strap his Zanpakutō to your head, _and_ you decided to wear a cape, so…” I add in, agreeing with Ichigo, “But your tactic is pretty trash, Kurosaki. Didn’t your tactic have you running half-health the entire time you were in there? I have to agree with Uryu too.” I turn on Ichigo.

“Why do you _always_ bring up the cape?” Uryu mumbles, shaking his head.

“You’re a real traitor, Inoue. Switching sides like this. I thought we were bonding. Besides, you aren’t any better, you were running around with 1 HP like you had God’s Armor on.” Ichigo frowns at me. I reach over, ruffling his hair. He slaps my hand away, “And going back to this team business, who said I was the leader anyway?”

The three of us stare at him blankly before I answer. “You… led the attack on the Soul Society.” I say slowly. “You even said we followed you there.”

“You fought some of the strongest guys.” Uryu adds in, “By yourself.”

“You rescued Rukia with your hands.” Sado holds out his own hands. “And fought her brother.”

“You—!”

“Okay, okay! Enough!” Ichigo waves his hands around, “Fine, I guess I’m the leader.” The three of us clap for him while Ichigo looks away, obviously embarrassed.

“ _Team Substitute_.” Sado chimes in. “Because Ichigo is a substitute Shinigami and we’re… kind of substitutes too.”

“It’s an option, but let’s keep looking.” I nod, stroking my chin, “ _Team_ … _HISU_!”

“Hisu?” The three repeat, confusion riddled in their tone.

“Yeah, Hoshiko… Ichigo, Sado and Uryu! Well, it was bad anyway, no need for that look…” I tap my finger against the table. “Ah, I guess we’ll stick with _Team Karakura_ until we can think of a better one.”

“I don’t even know why you’re worried about this.” Ichigo comments, “A team name is the least of our worries.”

“C’mon, Kurosaki!” I slam my hands on the table, “Like I said, a team name boosts morale! It brings us closer together! It gives us something to represent! A team name… gives us something to shout in battle. _Team Karakura_! Assemble! _Team Karakura_ , move out!”

“The idea of it isn’t… _awful_.” Uryu surprisingly admits, “We could wear matching jackets or arm bands as well.”

“Yeah! Yeah!” I agree. Ichigo scoffs, standing and grabbing his bag. “Matching jackets or something would be totally poppin’!”

“Whatever. We’ll have this conversation some other time. For now, detention is over.” Ichigo declares, “Oi, Buta-sensei, wake up, detention is over!” The sensei snorts—much like the nickname he’d been given and drops his feet.

“Detention dismissed!” He snorts out sleepily, “I hope you’ve reflected on your actions!” The four of us make our way out of the room and head out of the building altogether, stopping at the gate.

“I’m going by Urahara’s tonight.” I inform them, “I’ll ask him about Renji some more.” They nod and we say our goodbyes before breaking off. Tatsuki runs up to me, waving wildly.

“You owe _me_ an explanation and I owe _you_ an ice cream.” She grins, “I still haven’t thanked you properly for that day… when we fought everyone at school.”

“I… didn’t think you remembered.” I admit, letting Tatsuki pull me along.

Tatsuki seemed much, much further along than the Tatsuki I remember from the show. But now that I was walking next to her and had a proper chance to feel her Reiryoku… Tatsuki was nothing more than a normal human. Her being able to see spirits and remember things like this—and like Rukia—made little to no sense.

She didn’t have the spiritual awakening that Sado and I had and she definitely wasn’t like Uryu but… what could it be? But the bottom line was: Tatsuki wasn’t going to get a power. She wasn’t going to be able to see hollow or sense them, so… why could she remember things like that? I’d have to ask Urahara about it when I went by there tonight, because this didn’t make much sense. I didn’t want Tatsuki involved in this either.

I mean, it was no secret that I had already planned on talking to Urahara about Tatsuki—after all, during my summer break training, I had mentioned to him that I’d like to tell Tatsuki everything, but I wasn’t too sure on how she’d react. Now was the perfect time to tell her, plus, I had that device as well. I finger it in my pocket before looking back at Tatsuki who stands in front of the ice cream shop’s counter, ordering.

I couldn’t be nervous, I just had to tell her.

“I… Tatsuki.” I call her name. Tatsuki turns, handing me an ice cream cone. “You can’t tell anybody what I’m about to tell you. They’ll think you’re crazy.”

“You best believe I won’t.” She agrees, “I already got the crazy looks when I mentioned Rukia earlier. I don’t wanna go through that again. Teenagers can be cruel.”

“What I’m about to tell you is… incredibly true and incredibly hard to believe.” I begin slowly, searching her face, “And you can’t get mad.”

“I’m gonna get mad if you keep stalling.” Tatsuki says, her voice full of humor.

“Okay, well, it goes like this…”

I tell her everything. I mean… everything I _can_ tell her. I start with Rukia coming here from the Soul Society to guard Karakura and tell her vaguely of Ichigo getting his powers, since I really shouldn’t know much about it. I tell her about that night with Sora in more detail and I tell her about the hollow I fought for her and then I tell her about summer break.

Not in _High Definition Detail_ , but it’s the _Reader’s Digest_ version, sans the truly gory details of the entire thing and by the end of it, it’s nearly night time, we’re standing on the river bank and Tatsuki is angry. No, she’s more than angry. She’s absolutely livid. “Tatsu--.”

“And you weren’t gonna tell me this? Any of this?” Tatsuki rears on me. There’s angry and pain and betrayal on her face and I look away. Yikes, I didn’t think it would be this bad.

“I… I didn’t want you to worry.” I still don’t look at her, but I can feel the anger.

Tatsuki snorts, something like a sharp laugh coming out of her mouth. “Not to worry? I was worried this entire time! Suddenly you disappear! I couldn’t reach you at all during the break and we get back and you have scars and you flinch at loud noises a-and—you almost _died_ , Hoshiko! What would have happened if you didn’t come back? What would I have thought? What would I have done?!”

Tatsuki’s voice wobbles towards the end of her speech and I look at her. She’s crying, the tears stream down her face steadily, but she doesn’t even seem to notice. We’re quiet for a moment. I don’t even know what to say. At this point, it doesn’t matter what I say—it’s not like it’ll help the situation.

“Where is this place you went?” Tatsuki suddenly speaks up with a weird calmness in her voice.

“Th-The Soul Society?” I question, “Tatsuki, what—Tatsuki, where are you going?”

“I’m going there and I’m gonna kick everybody’s ass! F-First I’m gonna go find your boss and then I’m gonna get Kurosaki an—Hoshiko, let go of me!” Tatsuki tries to pull out of my grip, but I stand firm, holding her wrist tightly.

“No! Tatsuki, you can’t go there. Some of those people are _monsters_. What they did to me… they would do worse to you. I got off light because I was able to fight back. Please, don’t try to go there. And forget about Urahara, okay? He already feels bad enough. And everyone else went through just as much shit as I did. The only one at fault is me.”

“No, fuck that! How could I just let you go like that? Knowing that I couldn’t do anything… and all I said was ‘make sure you stay safe’ and you did the complete opposite of that! If I was there… If I was there… I could have done something!”

“Like what, Tatsuki?” I snap, letting go of her wrist, “If I have powers and I still got my ass handed to me on a silver platter, what could you do? Being powerless? They could have demolished you and I couldn’t have done a damn thing about it! I’d rather me than you! And look!” I gesture to myself, “I’m fine now! Scars? Who cares about those? You have tons of ‘em!”

The look Tatsuki gives me is one that I just can’t describe, but I know every emotion that she’s feeling. “Why couldn’t it have been me?” Tatsuki says quietly. “I just want you to be safe, Hoshiko. After all you’ve already been through with your brother and your parents and then… you go and do this and nearly die. I promised your brother I’d look out for you and this isn’t it.”

“Tatsuki, this was only something I could do.” I tell her softly, “And I did it. I’m back. And I told you because I didn’t want you to be left out of the loop.”

“But what you’re saying is.” Tatsuki sniffs, wiping snot from her nose, “You told me but I can’t do anything about it. Basically that I’m useless.”

“You’re not useless, Tatsuki. Don’t say that.” I move closer to her, wiping her tears, “I just don’t want you to get hurt. But I don’t want to hide things and lie to you either.”

“But I can’t do anything. I can’t even protect you anymore, Hoshiko!” Tatsuki snaps, “It’s only been a few weeks but I feel like you’re so different. You’re so… ahead of me. You have crazy powers! You went to another world! You’re doing all these things and I… I can’t help you. I can’t be a part of it.”

I don’t know what to say to her… because she’s right. It wasn’t even a long time, but so much has happened between when we first left and now. I didn’t know what to say to Tatsuki to make her feel better. But I think telling her was a bad decision. I wasn’t going to back out now, though. She already knew about Rukia and everything. I should have accounted for her reacting like this. I know that I would have, but…

“Hoshiko.” Tatsuki says with a weird clarity. She’s calm, but I know that she’s still angry. It’s weird and I take a step back.

“Y-Yes?”

“This… you’re not going to leave it alone, are you? No matter what I say, no matter how much I scream and cry… you’re going to involve yourself with Kurosaki and all those people and continue… to do this?”

I stare at her, searching her eyes for something, anything that can help me make sense of her question. “I… Of course.” I tell her, “I can’t abandon Kurosaki and the others now. We’re Team Karakura, name to possibly be changed.”

Tatsuki sniffles, laughing once more. “What a Hoshiko answer.” She shakes her head, “You’re so headstrong, I really wish you were still that meek little girl from middle school. But I know that that’s not you—I don’t think it ever really was. Maybe that was just a part you were playing to make me feel better.”

I stay silent, watching Tatsuki, “You remember… the first time I broke my arm in middle school?” I nod, the memory is vague, but it’s still there. “And how I nearly jumped off a building because I was so upset about it. And… when I was up there on the roof, you were screaming from the ground not to jump.”

“Of course I remember. Do you know how afraid I was?” The memory comes back at me full force. Something stirs within me as she says it.

“I’m starting to.” Tatsuki chuckles, “And then while I was trying to hop the fence, you ran so fast to the roof and you gave me an ultimatum—either we both jump or neither of us jump.”

“And when you didn’t get down, I hopped up there with you.”

“When I stopped to think—I realized that it wasn’t that big a deal, breaking my arm. I realized that me trying to do something like that had a bigger repercussion than a broken arm—I only realized that when you got up there next to me, ready to jump because I was going to do it.”

“Of course.” I cross my arms, “I needed you to realize how stupid that was.”

“I wish I could say that… I want you to realize how stupid this thing you’re trying to do is... but I’m sure you already know. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gone.” Tatsuki rubs her thumb across my cheek, smiling slightly, “I just want you to be safe.”

“And I will be, no matter what. I’m always gonna come back. I came back from this, didn’t I?” I grin at her, trying to keep my own tears away, “I already know what it’s like to lose someone, I don’t want to put you or any of the others through that.”

“You always think of others, don’t you?” Tatsuki shakes her head. “I think that you’re strong enough to survive most anything. But… it still hurts that I can’t protect you like I used to. I feel obsolete.”

“Don’t feel that way. There’s still tons of things only Tatsuki can do that I can’t. I’m always going to need you in my life, Tatsuki. Me getting powers and going to different worlds isn’t going to make you obsolete to me.”

“I hate it but that makes me feel better.” Tatsuki sniffles. “God, when did I even start crying?”

“Around the time you decided you were gonna go fight some over powered thousand-year-old people in the world of the dead.” I reply. Tatsuki stares at me before we both start laughing.

“I was dead serious, Hoshiko.” Tatsuki wipes her eyes. “I will kick anybody’s ass.”

“And I believe it. Just… if you ever meet them, go easy. They’re all like, really old. I’m pretty sure you could take them. Some don’t look it, believe me.”

“Where was that confidence the first time I said I was gonna beat them?” Tatsuki punches my arm. She then sighs, looking out of over the riverbank. “But, Hoshiko, don’t… don’t do anything you don’t want to, okay?”

“Nobody is forcing me to continue to help out. I’ll only do what I want, Tatsuki. And I want to do this.”

Tatsuki nods slowly, “So, your powers, huh?” It’s an obvious change of subject, but I’m all for it. I don’t wanna stand here on the riverbank crying anymore. I’m surprised nobody has come to bother us yet. “What are they like?”

“My hairpins.” I tap the two of them softly, “They’re where my power originates—because I wanted to save you, my power awakened.” Pulling my hands away, the fairies make their flashy entrance and Tatsuki jumps back, eyes wide at the sudden appearance of the small fairies in front of her.

“Here they are.” I gesture to them. “Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily, Ayame, Shun’o and Tsubaki. The Shun Shun Rikka.” Each of them flies forward a little when I call their name and I see Tatsuki’s eyes glide over all of them. “They each are a part of my three powers: attack, shielding and healing. It’s probably better to see them in action. I’ll show you one day.”

“Wow… you’re… incredible, Hoshiko. They’re incredible.” Tatsuki backs up, bowing lowly to the fairies. “Thank you so very much for watching over my dearest friend, Hoshiko!” She nearly yells, bowing once more.

“Tch, it’s our job as her power.” Tsubaki grunts out, though I can tell he’s flattered by Tatsuki’s honest thank-you.

“You’re very welcome, Tatsuki-san.” Shun’o speaks for everyone else, bowing back at her. “But like Tsubaki said, we’re merely doing our duty.”

Tatsuki bows once more and the fairies return to the hairpins. With this whole thing, I feel like there’s a huge weight lifted off of my chest. Tatsuki was my best friend, so I had to tell her, if I had to tell anybody.

It’s clear that she wasn’t all the way happy with me deciding to stay involved, but I told her and she accepted it for the most part. For now, that was what it had to be.

“Hoshiko…” Tatsuki says quietly. Her eyes don’t meet mine for a moment, then she looks up, her eyes still glassy and shiny. “I know that I can’t convince you to stop…”

“Yes.” I answer honestly. “I’m going to do this no matter what.”

“Ah…” Tatsuki sighs, running a hand through her hair. “It makes sense… you are a valuable part of the team. But… if anybody messes with you—superpowered or not—tell me and I’ll kick their asses. I’m still super serious, you know.”

I laugh—laugh like I haven’t laugh in a while and hug Tatsuki tightly. “Thank you, Tatsuki. I… I really missed you. It was hard… being there and away from everyone.”

“I missed you too, Hoshiko. And I’m glad you’re back.” Tatsuki hugs me back even tighter before pulling away. “It’s getting late, we should probably go home. I need to lay down… I have a headache from crying.”

“Can you make it by yourself?” I ask her. She nods, waving to me and telling me she’ll see me tomorrow. I wave back just as my phone beeps. I open it, seeing a text message from Urahara, asking about dinner.

The thing about Urahara’s messages are… I wish he never sent them. Firstly, the man uses entirely too many emoticons and secondly… _everything_ is abbreviated. And it doesn’t need to be. From the gist of the message, I think he wants me to come over for dinner now. Tessai-san messages me shortly afterwards, confirming my thoughts. At least someone had some sense. I sigh, sending a quick message back, telling him I’ll be there.

I feel… better now that I’ve told Tatsuki everything. Tatsuki was kind of like my rock. As much as it was cliché to say, she understood everything and didn’t judge me or put me down for whatever I told her. And I needed that. I hoped that I was like that for her too.

I stand on the riverbank for a moment longer before I turn, heading towards Urahara Shoten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is 15 pages, bye.
> 
> but also NOT BYE. because this chapter was 15 pages. I hope y'all enjoyed that bit at the end where they did that and also I hope you check out me writing Serious Isshin again in the side stories. what a MAN he should have married me, tbh. did y'all peep how sexually APPEALING he was as a younger twenty years ago??? yes slay me with the edges, Isshin. ISSHIN SHIBA. I could've been Mrs. Shiba tbh. but NO I JUST HAD TO BE LITERALLY ONE TWENTY YEARS AGO. BUT ALSO-- okay I'm done bye.


	33. The Bount Arc: Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy End of Feb!! We're back with another chapter in this long ass Bount Arc, or the Uryu-centric arc.
> 
> Gawrsh I love the Urahara fam. they's my baes.

The moment I reach the Urahara Shop, I’m greeted at the door by Jinta. “What’s up?” I greet him, throwing a hand up. Jinta rolls his eyes, leaning against the doorframe.

“That _Isōrō-san_ is here.” Jinta scoffs out, obviously not at all liking Renji’s being here. “Did he go to your school?”

“Sadly.” I sigh, knowing exactly how he felt. Why did they have to send Renji? He was… kind of _annoying_. “That guy is so weak he couldn’t leave his Gigai so Kurosaki and I had to take out the hollow.”

“Just like a freeloader… can’t even do the job he was assigned.” Jinta shakes his head. “That’s probably why he got demoted and sent here.”

“Probably.” I agree, following Jinta into the shop and taking off my shoes at the step. “Hey, _tadaima_! What’s for dinner?”

“Hoshiko-chan, _okaeri_!” Urahara slides into the hallway, his usual lazy tone replaced with joy. “And in her uniform too! It’s been so long!”

I sidestep him, heading into the main room where Tessai-san has set up the table and the rice cooker. “Hey, Tessai-san, Ururu.” The two greet me back and my gaze slides to Renji, who is laying down, doing nothing while Ururu helps set the table. “… _Shokkaku-san_.”

“What’s the deal with this Shokkaku-Isōrō business?” Renji asks, sitting up. “I am not a freeloader! I’ve been doing things!”

“Yeah, like what?” Jinta asks, “All you’ve done today is complain about your Gigai.”

“And you were supposed to be doing something with the hollows, Kurosaki and I ended up taking care of that one at school and while I was out, I saw Kurosaki dealing with another. Hence, the name Shokkaku.” I add in, frowning. “I mean, all you’ve really done is make my teacher have a crush on you. How, I’ll never know.”

Renji blushed darkly, shaking his head. “You don’t know what I’ve been doing!”

“Now, now, Hoshiko-chan. Don’t be mean to the freeloader, okay?” Urahara enters the room, patting me on the head. “He works very hard.” I grunt, glaring up at him as he takes his place at the table. We all follow Urahara and sit down at the table while Tessai-san passes out bowls of rice.

Renji wastes no time in tearing into the food after we’ve said the prayer. While Renji is preoccupied with eating, Jinta nudges me, darting his eyes over to Tessai-san who has the rice scooper in his hands, though he’s shaking and I see a slight hairline crack starting from the handle and heading into the scooper part.

If there was one thing that Tessai-san hated, it was messy eaters. And Tessai-san wasn’t the type to… outright tell someone something. He was very passive-aggressive about things. It was hard to tell if he was angry if you hadn’t been around him for as long as we had. There were only slight tells that Tessai-san had. His left eyebrow would twitch slightly if he was angered—like it was doing now and his grip would become like a clamp—it’s the reason why all of the utensils were reinforced steel, but I guess even that was no match for Tessai-san seeing the messy way Renji ate.

I had learned that when Tessai-san was here, you couldn’t eat messily or fast. He enjoyed the family dinners, so we all had to eat slow and have conversations—which wasn’t a chore or anything, generally, we did have conversations and they were… normal—occasionally we talked about hollows and spiritual stuff but usually it was normal family conversations. It was weird, having daily conversations like everyone in the room wasn’t powerful enough to kill monsters on a daily basis.

It made for a funny picture, honestly, but Renji… poor, poor Renji… he upset the balance. Nobody had talked since we said the prayer. Everybody had just been watching Renji and subsequently Tessai-san.

“How about seconds, Renji-san?” Tessai-san’s voice took an odd quality, overly sweet and good natured and Renji didn’t seem to notice. “Just because you’re a freeloader doesn’t mean you can’t get seconds.”

Renji pauses, “Oh… uh, okay…” He seems confused at Tessai-san’s words, and I smirk slightly. Urahara catches my gaze with a slight smirk and head jerk telling me to calm down a little. I bite my lip and look down at my bowl.

“You’re the first to get seconds… oh! But, please don’t hesitate, Shokkaku-san. I’m sure you did a lot today. Watching someone else take down a hollow is tough work.” Ururu pipes in and it’s all I can do to keep myself from snorting out of laughter. A look across the table tells me that Urahara hadn’t been expecting that from Ururu.

I taught her well, I did. Renji brings his bowl closer to himself, probably deciding against getting seconds after Ururu’s words. “Hm? What’s the matter? Don’t you want seconds? Even a messy eater like you can have them.” Tessai-san questions him.

“U-Um, okay…” Renji holds out his bowl for Tessai-san to take.

“Well,” Jinta chews slowly on his piece of chicken, “Even a Shokkaku like yourself would feel the need for seconds. So, eat up!”

“Mm, it’s best to get some now, Shokkaku.” I chime in, “It’s only best that our freeloading guest get the first hot and fresh set of seconds.”

“Hey now, hey now.” Urahara waves his chopsticks, “Don’t call him a freeloader, you’re all freeloading off of me!”

“I don’t think we can eat seconds, Kiicha.” I say instead of replying directly to his words, “I mean… we were at school all day—doing work. And then Jinta and Ururu had to come and help with the shop… I think Shokkaku-san deserves the seconds first. Since he was so busy laying around.”

“No, no.” Urahara waves his chopsticks around again, “All of you: stop bullying the freeloader. He’s only doing his best. He won’t ask for seconds, I’m sure. Right, Shokkaku-san?”

Renji looks down at his bowl, bringing it closer to himself and I trade looks with Ururu and Jinta, then look to Tessai-san who seems satisfied with making Renji guilty.

“Hey, clean the front of the shop tomorrow morning, will you? I have a soccer game so I have to leave early for practice.” Jinta swallows, then points at Renji with his chopsticks.

“Wh-What?” Renji turns to look at Jinta, glaring. I snort, covering my mouth with my chopsticks. I’m so glad I didn’t miss this dinner, I’m really glad.

“Ah, it’s only natural for a freeloader to try and help out where he can, yes?” Urahara looks to Renji, “Hollow don’t often appear here, and Ichigo-chan and the others are pretty good at taking them down quickly, so you’ll have a lot of free time, Shokkaku-san.”

“It’s only fair.” Ururu adds in, “Since you’re going to ask for seconds, right?”

“Yeah, Shokkaku-san.” Jinta jumps on, “I mean, seconds in exchange for work is how it goes, right?”

“Come, how about it, Shokkaku-san?” Tessai-san finally speaks, staring straight at Renji and the way Renji looks, it’s clear that he’s intimidated by him.

“By all means…” Ururu says cheerfully and I gesture towards Tessai-san. Renji looks at all of us, thoroughly embarrassed and fed up, before he puts down his bowl, thanking Tessai-san for the food. And the final nail in the coffin…

“Tessai-san, can I have seconds please?” I ask, holding out my bowl.

“Of course you can, Hoshiko-chan.” Tessai-san takes my bowl, dumping more rice into it and placing pieces of chicken on top and I look to Renji, smirking as he leaves. As soon as Renji leaves, the room bursts with activity. Jinta falls over, laughing while Ururu tries to cover up her giggles.

“Jinta, you’re so mean! And Hoshiko too! Asking for seconds in front of him like that!” She giggles, waving a hand.

“That was a good one, I won’t lie!” Jinta laughs, sitting up, the three of us do our usual handshake before Jinta raises his glass, “Hoshiko, the Queen of Mean!”

“Maa, you guys are awful children. I don’t remember raising you like that.” Urahara says, though there’s humor in his tone, “He’s much more sensitive than he looks. Maybe all red-heads are like that.”

“Wha-We’re nothing like him!” Jinta and I say simultaneously, glaring at Urahara.

He waves his fan around, “Maa, I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s a real tragedy you all treated him like that.”

“What’s _really_ a tragedy is that outfit Renji had on.” Yoruichi makes herself known, trotting in through the door Renji just closed. “I guess I owe you a great deal of money—but I want to know, how’d you get him in that outfit?”

“He picked it out himself.” Urahara looked towards Yoruichi, who gives him a disbelieving look—well, as disbelieving as a cat can. “I’m serious! He picked it out himself! I told him what was popular in this time period and he went in the completely opposite direction.”

“The question is, why do you have an outfit like that? I think it was ugly even in the time period it’s from.”

“Not according to my sensei who seems to have the hots for Renji.” I shake my head, “It’s so funny it hurts to laugh. This is awful!” I laugh out despite myself, “Wait, no this is really awful! Kiicha, people think he’s _related_ to me! They think we’re related!”

“Good on you! Take your gross relative and have him freeload at your house!” Jinta waves his hand, laughing.

“How about you shut up before I send him to your school on a hollow hunt. They’ll think he’s _your_ weird older brother like they do for me!” I threaten, which immediately shuts Jinta up.

“Y-You wouldn’t!” Jinta sits up, looking at me with wide eyes.

“Oh yes I would!” I reply, nudging Ururu, “If he acts up, just ask Shokkaku-san to show up. That way he can earn his seconds the right way.”

After this, dinner passes rather uneventfully, though I do notice that Urahara seems a little tense since Yoruichi’s arrival. I can’t tell exactly what it is, but Urahara is fanning himself a little too much for it to be anything but trouble.

Just as I go to leave, I feel Urahara standing behind me as I put my shoes on. “Hoshiko-chan… how was it?”

I stop, turning to look back at him for a moment, “Better than expected. We had a moment.” I reach into my skirt pocket, pulling out the device. “…should I have done it anyway?”

“It’s your decision.” Urahara says, “After all, telling her, not telling her… the only thing affected is your conscience. You may think that… someone will come after her, but if she’s important to you, I’ll protect her as well.” Urahara ruffles my hair.

“Thanks…” I murmur. “Do you want this back?”

“No,” Urahara chuckles, “It was made for you. There’s more to it, but you’re gonna have to discover that.” I sigh, of course I was. It was always like that with him and his inventions, wasn’t it? “At any rate, Yoruichi and I need to talk to you about something.” The usual feeling of dread—like when a parent tells you that you need to have a talk and that talk just turns into a lecture fills me and I nod, current conversation forgotten and I begin following after Urahara.

Did he know something? Did I let something slip I wasn’t supposed to? Urahara leads me down the hallway and into his bedroom—probably because it’s the most secure room in the house—and I find Yoruichi sitting on the floor, in her human form, nursing a bottle of sake. “Ah…” She sighs out after drinking some, “You got anything stronger, Kisuke?”

“Nothing that you haven’t already finished up.” Urahara responds. “Look at this, two lovely ladies in my bedroom, if only this was a social call.” Yoruichi ignores him, drinking more sake and laying on her side. I move over towards the bed, sitting down and scrambling up to grab a pillow. “Hoshiko-chan taking initiative! How _scandalous_!”

“A father shouldn’t act this way.” I simply respond tossing one of the pillows at him, and that seems to be enough to make Urahara stop his jokes. Urahara deflects it, the pillow hitting the ground with a soft thud. “What’s the problem, Kiicha? Why did you call me back?”

“Did you feel it, Hoshiko-chan?” He asks, “I know you’re rather sensitive to reiatsu and the like, so I’m asking if you noticed anything odd.”

I pause, taking a moment to feel out everything. Obviously, he was expecting something like a positive answer, but I’d been so busy with everything else, I hadn’t had the time to check out disturbances in Karakura. “Something’s wrong about this place right now.” I look up at Urahara, “There’s someone here, isn’t there?”

“You… are… completely right, Hoshiko-chan!” Urahara waves his fan. “Yoruichi, tell her what she’s won!”

“I wish it was something grander than this, but…” Yoruichi puts down the sake bottle, “I have a hunch an’ outta everyone of your ‘Team Karakura’… you’ve probably got the best sensing capabilities. Women are always better sensors anyway. So,” She sits up, “You’ll be doing a preliminary investigation with me.”

“Oh?” That was… odd. Well, at least it wasn’t anything bad on my part. For now, they didn’t know I knew more than I did. “An investigation? When?”

“When the time comes, you’ll know.” Urahara chimes in cryptically. “Don’t be surprised when something happens soon.”

“It better not be something weird like the blood thing.” I point at him. Urahara only laughs, telling me I can go.

I leave the Urahara shop, still thinking about what they could possibly want. I couldn’t remember if this was the start of Aizen’s whole campaign or the Bount conflict—so I was at a loss. I’d decided to just throw out my timeline when I finally moved back into my apartment (it was cut up into manageable sizes and then met with the community shredder at the library) because I didn’t want anyone finding anything out and questioning me about it, even though I thought I did a good job hiding it, so I was mostly clueless until someone gave me a direction in which we were going.

I decide to take the long way home since walking always helps me think a little bit better. Did Urahara and Yoruichi have something planned? Why was Yoruichi suddenly inviting me to go investigating with her? And what were we investigating? Urahara promised he’d clue me in on more things and yet I’d never felt more left in the dark. Those two knew something—a lot more than we did, so what could it be?

And what did this disturbance of spiritual pressure mean exactly? Was it Aizen? No, if it was him, it’d be way… bigger. I could still remember his spiritual pressure invading all of my senses so clearly, like I was living it everytime I recalled it. There was no way it was him. So, then it was that.

This was the Bount conflict.

I didn’t know whether I should be relieved or not, but I decided to go with relieved. This meant more time to get stronger and figure out a plan for when Aizen came.

But, now that I’m thinking about it—the Bount conflict—didn’t… didn’t Yoruichi meet with Sui-Feng? Why was she adding me along for the ride?

“Oh, Hoshiko.” I look up, spotting Sado leaving the convenience store, “What are you doing out so late?”

“Oh, Sado.” I greet him with a wave. “I’m just leaving Urahara’s. I was there for dinner.”

“You don’t seem too happy about that.” Sado chuckles, “Do you want to talk?”

* * *

Sado and I end up going to an abandoned warehouse closer to where he lived—in the older part of town. It was much easier to go there than to trek all the way out into the woods to find our original building, or even going to my house, since we were nowhere near it, as I decided to take the long way. Sado and I sit on old steel beams that are stacked in the warehouse. I sip at the can of soda that I’d gotten from the store then look over to Sado, who seems to be laying into his sandwich. It’s not awkward, but I still search for something to say.

“The… trip.” Sado begins, wiping crumbs from his mouth, “What happened to you there?”

Sado had never outright asked me about what I’d gone through in the soul society—it wasn’t really an off-limits topic, it was just one that we had never approached, because the two of us just weren’t ready to talk about it. I guess Sado was ready to talk now. I sigh, shaking my head.

“Well, I… I can’t tell you everything.” I start, looking down at my uniform shoes, “Not because I wanna keep it from you, but because I just… can’t remember all of it? I… it’s been blocked from my memories. Sort of like… repression.”

Tessai couldn’t suppress my memories—he said he didn’t want to delve much farther into my brain than blocking off nightmares, so he left it alone. And I was kind of happy for that, I didn’t want him finding out my future knowledge, so my brain sort of did it on its own. If I ever think about Mayuri or anything from that night in particular, I can’t remember anything past me throwing up my shield to protect myself from… _something_. What that something was, I don’t know.

But, Sado. Good, kind, sweet and understanding Sado just… he nods. “I understand.” He says, and doesn’t say more about it.

I still hadn’t told him what was bothering me about Urahara—mostly because it didn’t concern him right now, it would soon enough, so we could have conversations about it when that time came. “What happened to _you_ there?” I ask in turn. “You and Uryu are the ones whose stories I don’t know.”

“We didn’t have much of a chance to talk since we were recovering and then went straight into training when we got back.” Sado says lightly, “I was with Uryu up until we ran into two captains—Kyōraku and Ukitake.”

“Those two always seem to be together.” I comment. Even when I’d visited looking for Rukia, the two were together, much like Rukia had said they always were. But… I didn’t know if Ukitake had ever directly fought anyone during the Ryoka Invasion arc. And he was much, much stronger than how he looked. The man was sickly, yes, but he was definitely strong, since he was one of the oldest captains there.

“First it was only Kyōraku-san and I… Uryu showed up afterwards because I’d left him behind, thinking the energies I sensed to be Ichigo and that was when I knew we had to fight. For a minute… we were overwhelming Kyōraku-san, but then…”

“Ukitake-san showed up.” I finished for him. He nodded, lacing his fingers together.

“Captain Ukitake showed up and drew Uryu away, leaving me at the mercy of Kyōraku-san. And I felt Uryu’s power rise to greater lengths than I thought possible, but… after that, well, I didn’t stay awake much longer… so I didn’t know what happened to him until I woke up in the fourth division holding cell.” Sado clenches his fist, frowning, “Fighting them was… it made me feel so… so small. Kyōraku-san was…” Sado trails. “He’s a nice man—came to speak with me after we’d been declared non-enemies, but I never want to face him in battle again.”

It made me wonder what Kyōraku had actually done to him. Kyōraku wasn’t exactly the type to go on fighting from the door. No doubt they had some sort of conversation before they started fighting. Did Kyōraku do something drastic? I didn’t want to ask, I didn’t want Sado to relive that if he didn’t want to.

“A captain would do that to you, yeah.” I chuckle. “But then… Aizen.”

“And Aizen made me feel like a bug. I _never_ want to feel that again.” Sado continues, “I mean… when we first arrived, I was so sure of myself—of my power and… look where I ended up? In the infirmary… I don’t even know _why_ I got this power. I thought going there would… help me realize what it meant.”

I related to Sado so much it was almost painful. It was like we were on the same wavelength. We really were one and the same, born from circumstance. Though, I still didn’t know where I fit on the spectrum, as opposed to Sado, who would quickly be able to find himself in Hueco Mundo.

“I… know exactly what you mean.” I chuckle breathlessly. “When I first received my power, I was… well, I didn’t really want it. Healing? Shields? They’re… more passive powers than I’d have liked. But… all power is born from what’s inside you, y’know? It’s like… you’re meant to protect. And you protect with your fighting ability.”

“Still, I didn’t even find a _single_ answer in the Soul Society.” Sado frowns, “I thought it was the place where people like _us_ would belong, but… it’s not. The whole trip seemed useless.”

“We’ll find our place somewhere else.” I pat him on the shoulder. “We don’t need them to help us! But the trip wasn’t useless. We saved Rukia. Remember, you went to help Kurosaki and the only way you could’ve done that is by doing what you did: fighting. You protect with your fists. It’s a part of who you are, you know? And your power reflects that. Besides, this is only the beginning. Just because Aizen beat you, doesn’t mean you can’t get stronger.”

“I… yeah.” Sado doesn’t seem fully convinced, but he just had to do some soul searching on his own. I could only help him so much. When we all went to Hueco Mundo, he’d find himself, but that was a ways off and I didn’t want to think about how I would change that whole mess up yet. “Why did you go? To Soul Society, I mean.”

“Well, someone had to keep you dumbasses in line. And it wasn’t gonna be Yoruichi, that’s for sure. Even if… we ended up separated within two seconds of entering the Seireitei…” I explain. Sado chuckles, shaking his head and I take a more serious tone, “I wanted to rescue Rukia just as much as Kurosaki did, plain and simple. I knew I was given this power for a reason—even if… I didn’t want it at first, haha… and until I find that reason, I’m going to make my own.”

And it was true. I still wasn’t sure _why_ I was given Inoue’s power, but I would use it and make the best of what I had until I could figure it out. Because everything that happened was a cause of me, not her. “That’s… you’re a lot better at this than I am, Hoshiko. You’re so sure of yourself. I’m… envious.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll come naturally. Just do what I do. Fake it till ya make it. And I’m still faking it about… 75% of the time.” I stand, dusting the back of my skirt off and gulping down the last of my soda. “Wanna get outta here?”

“In a minute. Hoshiko… can we fight again? I’d like to test my new strength.” Sado stands, his arm materializing in a blueish light. “It’s not much… but we’ve been training and I feel stronger than before.”

“Yeah,” I say, surprise littered all in my tone. I move away from him, summoning Tsubaki, who yawns, griping about waking him up. “I’ll be your test dummy.”

“Then let’s begin.” Sado wastes no time in running towards me, the blue energy gathered around his arm condenses, coiling up into a ball near his fists as he pulls it back, throwing it forward. It’s not as fast as it could be, so I can easily dodge and… well, eating it probably would’ve been a better move.

The beam of energy Sado shoots out crashes into the window and completely shatters the entire thing and now there’s a giant, gaping hole in the wall. “Sado!” I yelp and we hear footsteps.

“Is someone up there? Stay where you are!” The person demands. I look to Sado, noting the panicked expression and hurry him along.

“C’mon! C’mon!” I run towards the window, Sado in tow and we jump, landing safely on my shield. “Let’s go! We gotta leave!” Sado and I then run from the crime scene.

* * *

When I get home, it feels… strangely empty. Maybe I should just move into the shop full-time? “Nah.” I quickly dismiss the idea. I liked my personal space and besides, if I really felt lonely, I could call out the fairies or something. It wasn’t too, too late. I could still text Tatsuki as well. I decided against it and instead, grabbed a cup of water and settled in the living room.

There was still a lot to think about. Talking with Sado didn’t… help me too much, but I didn’t mind. He was the one who needed reassurance, not me at that moment, so I was glad that he seemed to be feeling a little better about this whole thing after we talked about it. I knew he was still gonna have to think on it, but the least I could do without drawing attention was try to gently steer him in the right direction.

And he was on the right path now, I think. So that was good.

What I needed to think about now was… this whole Bount thing. “Ayame.” I call softly. The girl springs to life, materializing in front of me. Ayame was sort of… my partner in crime when it came to theorizing my place in all of this and remembering future events. She was a lot more involved than I thought she’d be—and she definitely had a lot more to say than I thought she would. She was supposed to be the quiet one and yet…

Lily was probably quieter than she was. “Tsubaki.” Tsubaki appears as well, though he’s not as into this as Ayame is, he still gives helpful input on occasion.

“I _do_ think it’s changing.” Ayame answers my unasked question. Gotta love those mental connections. “How much, I can’t be too sure.”

“This never happened to Inoue according to your memories.” Tsubaki adds in, “So, like usual it’ll have to be our Plan A.”

“Play it by ear.” Ayame and I recite.

I groan, resting my head on the desk. “Why is it _always_ play it by ear?”

“Because you’re so different from Inoue, you’re bound to change things, even by just existing.” Hinagiku adds in. “You could stand still for forty days and nights and everything would still be completely different.”

“You could follow Inoue’s story and it would still be different—that’s what you’re doing now and look.” Lily says, patting my hand, “So the game plan is like always: play it by ear and react accordingly.”

They were right but I hated to admit it. “Okay, okay… _fine_.” I groan again just as the doorbell rings. “Wh-What? It’s like, ten.” I glance at the clock. “There’s no way someone is coming to visit me.” I stand, motioning the fairies to follow me to the door. “Whatever you’re selling at ten at night can’t—S-S- _Sora_?”

‘Sora’ smiles, “Hey, kiddo. Long time no see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shokkaku means 'freeloader' if y'all ain't peep. But like, when I watched the episode and on the wiki it said "Nihongo" and I'm like Nihongo means 'Japanese' as in referring to the language, so I thought that was a little odd and ended up just going with this translation instead. 
> 
> When they call him "Shokkaku" it's a nickname, but if they say "freeloader" they're just referring to the literal definition i.e. "just like a freeloader" as opposed to "Hey, Shokkaku, c'mere!"
> 
> And Jinta personally calls him Isōrō, so he'll call him that sometimes as well.


	34. The Bount Arc: Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this arc hates me, but I'm trying to make it love me, guys. stick with me 
> 
> time 4 some stuff hoshiko doesn't like 2 talk about yaaasss

See, now, the thing about this… ‘Sora’, standing here smiling at me… is that he feels _nothing_ like Sora. Y’know, nothing like what I remember Sora to feel like. Now, I never really took the time to sort through my feelings on Sora—mostly because I was dropped in the middle of everything and didn’t even get a chance to _properly_ bond with him—since he was, like dead already. Well… _that_ and… my memories of him mixed in with the memories I had of my former older brother and family (how vaguely I recall those, if I even did have a former older brother or family) to create… the hot mess that is my personal family life, so I just decided not to touch it.

I had had other, more important things to worry about than searching my mind for what I remembered about Sora and my former life’s family. I just decided that there wasn’t enough time in the day to sort through that hot mess and let the memories of the past blend together, but I do know that the longer I stay here, the more I forget of the life I formerly had. Only prominent memories stay and I do not recall much more than that—nothing like family members or who I initially was.

Like I said: hot mess. That means Hoshiko no touchy.

But there’s no denying that I feel some type of _something_ , seeing him standing here, looking just the same as the day he died. Still as handsome as ever. It was too bad he never had a girlfriend—he was a flirty thing, I could vaguely remember, but he never stuck around with one for too long. Flirty and nice, a weird combination that just drew people to him. He always had someone hanging around him. And I was the jealous type when I was younger, so if I didn’t like her… she was gone. Wow, this was a lot more than I thought I knew about him.

There’s more though. The more I stand here and stare at him, the more memories of him come crashing into my brain, assaulting my senses and making me remember things that I had experienced—because I’m sure these weren’t Inoue’s memories. They were Child Hoshiko’s memories, even though Child Hoshiko did not exist until 'Hoshiko' crashed into Ichigo all those months ago. These should have been Inoue’s memories, but they seemed too… _personalized_ to be hers. Her fondest memory with Sora was waiting for him while making snow rabbits. Mine was… as I'm recalling things... not. Really, this whole thing was making my brain hurt.

These memories should not exist and yet they do and… it’s all really a lot to deal with. But in a way, it only made sense that I would have them, since this was ‘my life’ now. In this world Child Hoshiko existed and Child Inoue did not. That’s why there were baby picture of me, with curly red hair and not of Child Inoue with whatever hair color she had.

Anyway, back on track… there’s some big differences between My Sora and Inoue’s Sora.

My Sora doesn’t look mousy or work in some office job from my memories of the anime. My Sora was big and tall, a very muscular man with a crew cut of blonde hair that he seemed to make _work_ against his dark skin. He had the makings of a beard lining his mouth and chin and the same silver eyes I had. My Sora, from the memories that were resurfacing second by second, worked a construction job and had done so for a good portion of his life. He worked through high school to afford to pay for us to move out—something I only found out when we had gotten into an argument. Jeez, these memories were _really_ in depth.

My Sora loved pickles and I hated them. He loved my cooking and he was always warm and ready to hug someone. He was affectionate, similar to how I was and—“Hoshiko? Are you alright?” Sora’s deep voice, laced with concern cuts through my thoughts. “You’re crying.”

I touch my face and sure enough, there’s a tear sliding down my cheek. “O-Oh, I…” I laugh nervously, wiping it, “I’m sorry, um… hah.” I sniffle, “It’s just… this threw me off. I didn’t know souls could cross back over or something. Not here to eat me again, are you?”

“No, of course not.” He smiles, shaking his head, “Always joking around, aren’t you?”

“That’s me.” I laugh breathlessly, “Always the joker.”

“Well,” ‘Sora’ looks past me, trying to see into the home, “Are… you gonna let ya brother in or am I just gonna stand out here?”

“I dunno.” I eye him curiously, “It seems a little odd that you’d pick now to come back, don’t you think? I don’t know if I should let you in…”

“Perceptive.” Sora smirks.

“I try to be, yes.” I shake my head, chuckling just as I remember Urahara’s words from earlier. I stare at Sora, noting that he does in fact feel different than he should. “Ah… Urahara is so flashy with everything, isn’t he? I’d much prefer another blood stain on my wall.”

Sora looks surprised, before a softer smirk crosses his face, “ _Very_ perceptive. So then,” Sora holds his hand out to me, “Will you go with me?” I turn back towards my apartment, grabbing the nearest pair of shoes and slipping them on.

“Hoi, hoi…” I scratch my head, “Do I have much of a choice?” I look behind him, noting a large gate—black with a menacing red aura around it and bones whiter than clouds sprouting from the sides. “Really flashy…”

“Inoue!” Another voice snaps me from staring at the gate. I can’t see them yet, but I know the others are close to arriving.

“Time to put on a show then, hm?” Sora says, “Scream for me, yes?” He grips my arm, pulling me towards the railing and flipping backwards as the gate opens. I don’t have time to do anything else, since the gate is already pulling me in.

“Inoue! Hold on!”

“I can’t!” I scream, “Kurosaki!” I yelp out, flipping and smacking my head against the railing. “Help!”

“Hoshiko!” I hear Sado, but only see Ichigo as he jumps towards me, hand on his sword as he reaches out. I throw my hand out. Our fingertips graze and there’s a spark of lighting between us that makes both of us recoil.

“Inoue!” Kurosaki screams once more as I’m pulled into the gates and they shut with a defining thud.

“Ow!” I yelp, tumbling to the ground. I sit up, rubbing my head with a frown. “Next time, can you do something else, please? I smacked my head on the railing…” I groan, looking up. Urahara stands in front of me, smiling his usual and pats me on the head.

“Hoshiko-chan!” Urahara’s voice is full of surprise, “Why… what a surprise of you to drop in!”

“Yeah…” I mumble, standing up and dusting myself off, “I’m sure it is a surprise.” I look around, “Where’s Sora?”

“Don’t worry about that guy,” Urahara waves his fan, “The only man you should be worried about is me!” I roll my eyes and Urahara whines, “Hoshiko-chan! _C’mon_!”

“Fine, fine.” I wave my hand, “So what’s this all about? Why did you steal me away in the night so flashily?”

“Oh, that? Well, you’ll find out later on, I’m sure.” Urahara dismisses it as if it’s nothing. “Anyway, I have something for you to do, Hoshiko-chan. And I need you to be ‘undetected’ while you do it.”

“Undetected?” I repeat, following him. Urahara stops short and I walk straight into his back, stumbling a little but ultimately manage to stay standing.

“Yes, undetected.” He repeats. He turns, tapping the ever-growing amount of bracelets on my wrist.

I still have the lucky bracelet Jinta and Ururu had given me, one of the Reiryoku control bands Urahara had made since I broke my natural limiters, another band that probably has the same failsafe properties as the one I’d had before the whole Soul Society Incident, a friendship bracelet from Tatsuki and now… a thick band with a metal plate in the middle.

“I’m guessing this makes me ‘invisible’.” I throw out, tapping it.

“Yup,” Urahara nods. “Sora there put it on you and Kurosaki activated it. Handy, don’t you think?”

“So then what do I need to be undetected for?” I ask, tilting my head.

“Simply put, I need you to go look at something for me.” Urahara says, pulling something out of his kimono robe pocket. It’s a strange device, in the shape of a star that he hands to me. “If you follow this, you’ll be right where you need to be.”

“Mm…” I hum, staring at it. The screen blinks a few times, and I see two cursors on it. “But… why do I have to do it?”

“Well, you work for me, don’t you?” Urahara says casually. I nod, “So, I have to put you to work somehow. Besides, I think you’re more than qualified for this. It’s just reconnaissance anyway, you shouldn’t run into anyone while you do this.”

“And… it’s just me—wasn’t I supposed to be doing this with Yoruichi?” I remind him, raising an eyebrow. The woman wasn’t here at all when I looked around. I see Urahara take out his fan, flapping it against his face.

“Yoruichi is rather busy at the moment. She had to make an impromptu trip somewhere, so you’ll be going alone.” He informs me, “She sends her deepest apologies, best wishes and hopes for the future.”

“Wishes and hopes for the future.” I repeat. Urahara nods and I sigh deeply, “Alright, I can handle this, then.”

“Good! Cause you can’t say no now!” Urahara slaps my back and in another breath, we’re standing in front of the store.  I _hate_ shunpo. “I’d say take Jinta and Ururu with you, but Ururu is hard to wake up and I think Jinta is going to be pretty… loud.”

“It’s fine.” I tell him, “I do have the Shun-Shun Rikka and I can fight.”

“That’s my girl. I’ll be in contact with you once I see that you’re there.” Urahara waves me off and I start running. Following the little GPS tracker-thing that Urahara has given me takes me through the back routes of Karakura.

The back routes in Karakura—since it’s a pretty big city—take me through the red-light district until I’m near the old warehouse area. The signal beeps repeatedly and I frown, Urahara never told me how to work this.

_“…Hoshiko?”_ I hear Urahara’s voice much, much closer than it should be. I turn, spinning around in a circle and noting that Urahara is… nowhere near me. He’s not even close. _“I’m not there. I’m still at the shop.”_

“H-How…?”

_“It’s a communicator too.”_ Urahara says shortly _, “I told you I’d be in contact.”_

“Ah… yeah, you did say that.” I relax a little bit, “So… what am I here for?”

_“Is it still beeping?”_ Urahara asks instead. I look down at the GPS, noting that the signal has gone and it’s a little too quiet for my liking.

“No… it’s stopped.”

_“Ah… they must’ve gone.”_ Urahara sighs, _“It can’t be helped…”_

“So, what do I do?”

_“Look for anything you might think suspicious.”_ Urahara advises. I nod, though I know he can’t see me and walk around, eyes glued to the ground with only the light of the moon to help me out.

For a while, I don’t see anything, and all I hear are bugs and the sound of the staticky crackle coming from… however Urahara is contacting me. I breathe out and he hums, as if asking a question and I move to tell him I haven’t found—or sensed anything. “Ah, wait.” I blink.

_“What?”_ Urahara questions, _“Do you see something?”_

“Yeah…” I kneel down, staring at a pile of clothes, “There’s… a pile of clothes here and… dust? But… it feels… human-y.”

_“Human-y?”_ Urahara repeats, _“Can you gather it?”_

“I can try…” I didn’t have anything on me that would allow me to carry some of the dust, so I’d have to just wrap it up as best I could in the clothes and bring it back carefully.

I don’t remember anything like this happening in the show—the first Bount encounter happened with Yoruichi and Sui-Feng. I’m guessing Urahara hadn’t expected me to actually find anything, so he sent me to check this out to give me something to do.

The loud beeping started up again and I stop what I’m doing and pull out the GPS. _“Hoshiko, what’s there?”_

“I… I dunno. But it’s right—woah!”

_“Hoshi--!”_

Whatever Urahara is about to say is cut off. I drop the GPS and roll out of the way of an attack. Something heavy lands in the spot I was just in and effectively breaks the GPS. There’s something here, but it’s hard to decipher where it is exactly. The feeling… it’s muted and it’s everywhere.

“State your purpose!” The loud voice of a man echoes across the area. I look around, pressing a hand to my hairpins. I feel the power crackle underneath my fingertips as I do so. “Why are you here?”

“I could ask you the same thing!” I shout back, “Why are you dropping… iron beams on me?” I look around, noting something in the shadow of an old crane. “Tsubaki…” I whisper lightly, “On my signal…” Tsubaki doesn’t come out of the hairpins—it was still a flashy entrance that I hadn’t been able to work out. If they could just appear without alerting anyone… I would be unstoppable, but…

“You… I thought you were a normal human, I couldn’t feel anything from you… and yet…” The man appears in front of me. From what I can see, he has dark brown hair and isn’t much taller than I am.

“Who are you?” I instead ask, still defensive. From what I vaguely remember, I don’t at all remember this guy. We stare at each other for a good long time before he chuckles, running a hand through his hair.

“Does it matter?” He licks his lips, “You look… particularly strong, but I’m sure I can handle you. After all, you’re only human and humans… they all die the same.”

“You talk a lot.” I tell him, “Tsubaki, run through him!” I yelp out, removing my hand from the hairpin. The man seems almost surprised when Tsubaki zooms towards him, slicing into his arm a little more than shallowly. “That’s your warning. Explain yourself and maybe I won’t hurt you anymore.”

The cut is bleeding, I know that because he’s clutching his arm, but he smirks, laughing as he coats his hand in it and brings it up to his mouth. _Of course_ I would get the weird one. “That’s cute… you think you can beat me… I’ll let you in on a little secret… _you can’t_ …”

“Tsubaki!” I yell out. In the nick of time, Tsubaki manages to back away from the man. He runs forward, a switchblade in his hand as he repeatedly comes to jab at me. I dodge, duck and weave, with him cutting against the ground multiple times. I’m finally able to put some distance between us and Tsubaki slices him again, this time in the side. “You suck!”

“Oh, is that so?” He doesn’t sound at all put off by my words, “Ah, you’re a lot tougher than I thought, girl.”

He engages me again, running towards me once more. We enter the dance of ducking and dodging and trading blows once more and I’m really starting to get tired of it. I didn’t want to kill him, but Tsubaki’s cuts weren’t deterring him in the slightest. And I haven’t been able to knock that switchblade from his hand either.

I’m finally able to see an opening. He slices me thinly on the arm and electricity sparkles against my skin, but it’s not enough to stop me. It’s more like a small jolt and I spin within his grasp, gripping his switchblade arm and flinging him over my shoulder.

He lands roughly on the ground and immediately sits up. Tsubaki comes back to my side and we stare at him, waiting for him to make a move. “Hee hee…” He laughs deliriously, “You landed _right_ in my trap.” The ground shifts and I see something akin to a pentagram—with an old European-looking design light up, with me in the middle. “Blitz, if you please!”

Electricity crackles to life, starting from the edges and begins moving in closer and closer to me. I hadn’t even seen him do anything. When did he lay this down? I grit my teeth. It was probably every time I moved to dodge and he sliced his blade into the ground. Dammit.

The pentagram is large, but the electricity is still slow going, hitting the corners before coming towards me. “I can just walk out of this, you know.”

“You wish you could. Once someone’s trapped in the middle, only my word can break it.” He replies, smirking at me still.

I tested this, moving towards the edge, only for a wall of electricity to meet my hand. I pull it back, hissing in pain and noting the burn on my palm. So he was right. How could I get out of this? Tsubaki was right next to me—if he hadn’t been, then I could’ve used him to knock out the man and deactivate… whatever this Blitz was.

“Well,” I sigh, “I guess you caught me.” I try to sound bored instead of panicky and wobbly, and I think I did a pretty good job, judging by the way he frowns at me, but he immediately disregards it.

“Of course I did… I won’t hurt you too much. I need your soul, after all…” He cackles loudly.

“My soul?” I question. I need him talking—I had a plan, so hopefully it would work. “What do you need my soul for? It’s not particularly tasty.”

“Oh, but I’m sure a… pretty thing like you has such a pretty soul. It _has_ to be delicious.” The man practically purrs at me. I cut my eyes at Tsubaki. He nods slightly.

“You flatter me.” I dryly reply, “ _Santen Kesshun_.” I quietly whisper. Tsubaki slowly flies up as the glowing from the pentagram becomes brighter—it’s approaching and this needed to work or else. “But what are you going to do with it?”

“Eat it, of course!” The man responds, “If I’m to stand with Kariya-sama in the coming age, then I have to be strong! And sucking down your soul will put me over the top!” The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t properly place where I’d heard it from. “Enough chatter, Blitz, a little faster if you please!”

I guess that was as much as I was going to get out of him right now. I couldn’t push my luck, otherwise he might speed up the process again. Lily, Hinagiku and Baigon appear at my sides, though their arrival is somewhat obscured by the increased brightness.

“I _reject_!” The shield goes right up, wrapping around the front of me and Tsubaki slams downwards, gaining a heavy moment and suddenly, an explosion rocks the area and blowing up chunks of dirt. I fly backwards from the recoil of it hitting the shield, only protected from the front by the shield and hit my back against the metal siding of a wall. There’s no sickening crack and I’m glad for the others reacting so quickly to changing and taking the brunt of the blow from the back as well.

Once I’m oriented enough to move, I shout, “Tsubaki!”

The man is shouting, asking how I’d done that—I didn’t even think that would work. See, even if Tsubaki had managed to disrupt the pentagram, I assumed it’d just blow up on me anyway, but I guess with that man’s concentration gone and the pentagram broken up as much as it was, there was no way anything would happen.

Luckily I only managed one injury. A loud scream tears me away from my thoughts and I get up, running over to where Tsubaki floats in the air, above the bleeding man. “Tsubaki, you didn’t… should we heal him?”

“There’s no point, look.” Tsubaki cranes his neck towards the man so is disintegrating fast—he’s at the waist now.

“Wh-What? What’s going on?” I approach him, “Ayame, Shun’o!” I call out the remaining fairies, but it’s too late.

“If… I can’t join Kariya-sama then…” The man grins through a mouthful of blood, “I don’t deserve to live…” He fades away into dust, which is carried off by a strong gust of wind.

“Tsubaki, did you do that?” I rear up on his, eyes narrowed.

“I hadn’t even touched him!” Tsubaki argues. Flashes of what Tsubaki had done enter my mind and I take a knee, looking down at the ground. “Someone else did that, cause it wasn’t him…”

“Yo-You’re right. Someone put a hole in him from behind, but you didn’t see who…” I look up at them. The group seems to recoil from me. “Wh-What’s wrong?”

“Your eyes…” Lily is the first to speak, “They’re…” I grab the switchblade he’d left behind and wipe it, peering at my eyes in the metal.

“What’s wrong with them?” I ask, blinking a couple of times.

“They were…” Lily speaks again, “Well, simply put, your pupils were in the shape of flowers.”

“That’s odd.” Shun’o comments, “What was that?”

“I… I don’t know.” I answer honestly. “I just… when I accused Tsubaki of… killing that man, I saw what he saw… it’s… can we do that? Is that a thing?”

“I don’t know, truthfully.” Shun’o shakes his head. “We’re figuring this out just as you are, Hoshiko.”

“Right…” I stand up, dusting myself off. “Well, we can worry about that later on.” I survey the area. There’s upturned pieces of the ground and bent metal everywhere. “Y’know, this was rather anticlimactic.”

“But we found out something.” Hinagiku speaks up, “Whoever this… Kariya-sama is… has a hand in… whatever that man was.”

“Mmm…” I nod, looking around, “This is definitely _that_ , then.” _The Bount Invasion._ The fairies nod at me. “Though, to be honest with you, I’m not at all sure what role we’re to play in this.”

“Using… as a loose guideline only gives us… a small amount of help in what to expect in the coming times.” Ayame finally speaks up. “After all, this wasn’t…”

“Yes.” I say firmly, “We’re… kind of on our own now. At any rate, let’s get back.” I grip the switchblade, only now realizing that it, too, has turned to dust. “These guys… what’s up with all this dust?”

* * *

When I get back to the shop, it’s nearly morning and I can’t say that I’m surprised. It was rather late when I had been ‘abducted’ by Urahara and when I went to investigate. Urahara waits for me in front of the door, tapping his foot expectantly. “Yo.” I greet casually. Urahara frowns as he looks over me, it’s clear that he wants to say something, but he keeps in it and instead, his hand glows green and he heals my minor injuries.

“What… What happened?” He finally asks.

“Ah… turns out your device was wrong.” I tell him, “Someone was there and… simply put, they attacked me.”

“Well, you being here means you won… what happened to that person?”

“Well,” I scratch my head, “Someone came and killed him. And then he turned to dust. And then the wind took all that dust and… psshew…” I make my hand move like a dolphin, “So, that’s what happened.”

“I see…” Urahara presses a hand to his chin. “Did you learn anything from this man? Or see who killed him?”

“Well… no—no to the seeing who killed him.” I hastily say. I didn’t want to let Urahara know about my odd ‘seeing’ ability with Tsubaki. Who knew if that was a one-time thing or not. I had suspicions it wouldn’t be, seeing as everything I thought was a one-time thing, turned out to be a multiple-time thing. “But… he said he—and whoever he’s with—go around sucking souls out of humans. And… there’s someone named Kariya leading them, but… that’s all he told me in a roundabout way. Had a weird ability too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah… I’ve been thinking about it on the walk back… I’m going to liken it to a Zanpakutō at this point.” I tell him. Urahara leads me into the shop and we head into the living room. Once we’re settled, he gestures for me to continue. “Now, this is all assumptions, but… when the guy first attacked me, he was using a switchblade and the switchblade has some kind of… ability?”

Urahara raises an eyebrow, “Okay, it’s like… he never actually said anything, but when he sliced me with the switchblade, it felt like electricity and when he sliced the ground, he was able to create a pentagram that would detonate like a bomb of electricity—I’m assuming, because we stopped it before he could do that.”

“It’s similar to a Shinigami using their Shikai.” Urahara summarizes, “The switchblade is probably the dormant form and the pentagram is the shikai form. Similar to a fulfillment type—er, fulfillment types are Zanpakutō that need conditions to be fulfilled before they can summon their shikai form. Since we’re running on assumptions, I’m going to go ahead and say that either his condition was making the pentagram and trapping someone within it.”

“You finally learned how to explain something, I’m proud! But, that’s what I was thinking, not in so many words or as precise, and I’m not a Shinigami or anything, but he did have a name for it. Don’t y’all all name your zanpakuto?”

“They’re named at the birth, yes. Until they’re named, they’re just Asauchi… a Shinigami’s main qualification for becoming one is being able to know what the name of their partner is.” Urahara explains, “Though rare cases do occasionally pop up.”

“Kenpachi…” I murmur. He nods, “But, other than that attack he used, he seemed rather weak.”

“There’s still the matter of this Kariya man.” Urahara says, “Did he say anything else?”

“Just that he was leading them into a new age and when he was… well, disintegrating, he said he wasn’t worthy. So, I’m guessing this guy has something to do with why Karakura feels all out of whack now.”

“Yeah,” Urahara nods slightly. The room is tense for a moment before Urahara reaches across the table and pats my head, “Good job, Hoshiko-chan.”

“Mm. So, what do I do now?” I ask him. Urahara frowns for a moment before looking towards the door, “Can I go to school or…?”

“No, actually.” Urahara says, “Ah… this is hard to explain, but just put up with it a little longer, can you? It’ll make sense soon.”

“I don’t like this whole ‘you not telling me’ thing, Urahara.” I tell him, frowning, “You better have a good reason for it.”

“I do, don’t worry.” Urahara’s voice sounds more than amused. “Mah, Hoshiko-chan, how about you have some tea, huh?” Urahara motions Tessai-san in, “And afterwards, we can have breakfast. Tessai-san comes in and pours the three of us cups of tea. We sit in silence for a moment before I thank Tessai-san for the tea and gulp it down.

“Thanks for the tea, Tessai-san. I’m feeling kind of…” I yawn loudly, “…tired. I’m going to sleep. Don’t bother me.” I look pointedly at Urahara before I leave the room, heading towards Urahara’s room and shutting the door after me.

I had wanted some alone time in order to think about what was coming in. I couldn’t clearly remember—a recurring theme that seemed to be happening the moment I walked into something new—anything that happened. Mostly because I think this was one of the things I’d skipped or skimmed through when I watched the show.

I didn’t have many more thoughts, because it was getting harder and harder to just… keep my eyes open, honestly. I yawned. Maybe I’d feel way better after I went to sleep. I’d be able to at least come up with something when I woke up. With that in mind, I turned over, burrowing myself further into the mountain of pillows Urahara has and immediately fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bluegh my attempt at writing a fight scene. hope y'all enjoyed it and I'll get better. 
> 
> next time!!!!: 
> 
> "Don't come so close!" Ichigo nearly shouts, "You're being gross!"


	35. The Bount Arc: Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko does something you wouldn't expect her to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko isn't perfect, yanno.
> 
> Also, Renji is So Ghetto, y'all don't understaND

It’s bright out here. Much, much brighter than it should be and… well, I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing here. The sound of door busting open draws my attention as I see a man carrying another and a girl sprint out of them and jump, “What?” I follow them, only for my eyes to land on Sado. “S-Sado? What’s going on?”

“Inoue! Chad!” Ichigo’s voice breaks me away from searching Sado for any indication of an answer. “Is it really you guys?”

“Wha—of course it’s me, why wouldn’t it be?” I ask, tilting my head. “What’s going on, guys? Why are we here? At… the museum? I wouldn’t come here if this place was having a party!”

“Tch, there’s no time for that.” Ichigo cuts me off, “What’s going on here, Ririn?” We all turn, noting a large gate that looks suspiciously familiar to me in ways I can’t exactly understand and see two people standing on top of it.

“Well…” Ririn, I’m assuming, says, “You won the game of hide and seek, so… we gave your friends back.”

“I’ll give you these as well…” The man dressed in black throws down Renji and Ichigo’s Zanpakutō. The two then jump down after tossing the Zanpakutō and the man in black jumps right inside the gate while the girl stands for a moment.

“Where you goin’? Let’s finish this now!” Ichigo yells from behind me. The girl only chuckles, covering her mouth with her hand.

“To start the next game, of course!” She giggles, “School is about to begin, you know! Students—even kids like _you_ —should be going to school!”

“School?” Uryu and I repeat.

“If you don’t hurry and go to school, your friends might keep disappearing!” She sings.

“Wh-What?” Ichigo shouts back at her. “Get back here!” He runs up towards the gate, but it closes, disappearing in a flurry of blackness. “Dammit!”

“What exactly is going on?” I turn to Uryu, “What’s happening here?” I hated being left in the dark so much as I hated not being able to say more than I should. It was frustrating, to be honest.

“There’s no time for that!” Ichigo turns back towards us, “We need to get to the school!”

“We’ll explain on the way, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu tells me. I grunt, but nod nonetheless and the group of us begin our trek towards the school while Uryu quickly explains what happened.

In short, Uryu tells me that I was kidnapped around two days ago and… they’ve been playing a game with a couple of Mod Souls. He lists off their names and what he knows about them. What I gather from Uryu’s explanation is that the girl, Ririn, seems to be the leader while the others—Noba and Kurodo—just seem to be going along with her plans. And Kurodo happens to be a shapeshifter.

I blink, trying to see if any of this rings a bell, but it doesn’t do much for me. This was probably the stuff I didn’t really watch or skimmed and didn’t pay much attention to. Still, I felt… odd. I really didn’t remember anything that had happened to me since I left Urahara’s place on the first day of the term.

Racking my brain, I still found that I knew of the future knowledge I’d had—things like Aizen and such, I could remember, but anything having to do with the moment… I could not. It felt… As if I had been sleeping for a long, long time. Was I truly kidnapped? I couldn’t tell, because for the most part, I felt unharmed. My hand burned a little, but other than that, I couldn’t find anything wrong with me. I couldn’t believe I had been so careless as to let myself get kidnapped.

My memories were kind of fuzzy, so I had no choice but to believe them, but I still think something was off about it. What I could remember from that night was… well, it wasn’t what they were telling me. But every time I tried to think about it… it felt… blurry and staticky, so I stopped trying to think about it. It doesn’t take us long until we reach the school and inside the courtyard, Ichigo and Renji’s bodies sit back to back.

“This is… odd.” I comment. “Everything about this whole situation.”

“What’s my Gigai doing here?” Renji questions outright, “I have no use for it…”

“That doesn’t matter.” Uryu is quick to say, “Both of you, return to your bodies. Someone else might be coming.” The two quickly agree, running over to their bodies and entering them, though Renji has more difficulty doing it than Ichigo does.

“So, Inoue—it’s you!” Ichigo points an accusatory finger at Ririn, who giggles as she holds a rather cute-looking clock in her hand. “What do you want now?”

“That’s a mean way to speak… but, I guess it can’t be helped, someone as uncouth as you. It’s time… for the next game!” Ririn cheers, “I’ll explain the rules.”

“Just get on with it then!” Renji yells at her.

Ririn pouts, “Aw… you’re all so mean… even though I came _all_ this way to tell you there’s a fake among your friend group… you’re really mean people.”

“A fake?” Uryu repeats.

“A fake? What do you mean a fake?” I question her, stepping in front of Kurosaki. Ririn just giggles, watching us with a strange look on her face.

“Look!” Renji points out, “There’s only the two, the copy man ain’t there!”

“Then… that means he traded places with one of us.” I surmise, looking around at the group. The five of us look at each other, “But… when did he do that?”

“Hmph, there’s only one logical explanation!” Kon says, getting our attention. He walks around below us, with a strange strap attached to his back. Judging by the color, it was more than likely Uryu’s doing. “…Don’t you all think that Inoue and Chad are really suspicious? I mean… they _are_ the ones who were taken!”

“Ah, he makes a compelling argument.” I tell them, nodding.

“You’re not exactly making this easier on yourself, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu fixes his glasses, “You aren’t supposed to agree with him.”

“But… it’s true? I mean, if I was in your shoes, I’d suspect me too. How would you be able to tell the difference if you couldn’t before?” I question. “I mean, granted, I’m more than sure I can’t choke out Sado now, but…”

“She’s correct! So,” Kon continues, “Maybe I should be the judge of this! Inoue-san… if you would just invite me up into that magnificent and godly bosom of yours, we would be in business.”

“Mmm, I don’t see why not.” I shrug. Kon gasps, but before he can move, Ichigo stomps straight on him, then looks to me. “What?”

“Don’t encourage him.” He scolds me, smacking me on the head. “Uryu is right, you’re not making this look good on you.” I shrug, it wasn’t like I had anything to hide.

“Come now,” Renji says, “It’s gotta be a trick! There’s no way… after all, we all saw him leave the museum.” Ririn laughs once more, and I’m honestly getting tired of the sound. She then jumps down from the roof, landing lightly in front of us.

“How curious…” She finally says, “Though you should hurry. If you don’t find the imposter… your friends here will disappear!” Ichigo approaches, lifting her by her odd hood.

“Hey, brat! We don’t the time to keep playing your stupid—hey!” Ichigo stumbles back when Ririn flips out of his grip, flicking him on the forehead and landing on a nearby lamppost. “Hey!”

“That’s no good, Kurosaki-san!” She says teasingly, “The game’s already begun! Now, before I’m rudely interrupted again, I’ll explain the rules! Before the clock strikes twelve, you need to figure out who the imposter is!”

“And if we don’t?” Uryu asks.

“Mmm… well, everyone here will disappear!” Ririn says cheerfully.

“Disappear?” I watch her closely.

“Yes! Disappear!” She claps, “Oh, do you know what I mean? I mean… they’ll vanish and you’ll never see them again… _ever_.” She breaks off into a laugh again. “Ah! And you can only guess once, so… let us know when you’re ready! We’ll be waiting!”

After that, Ririn and Noba disappear. Ichigo turns towards us, looking pointedly at Uryu. “Can… they really make everyone at school disappear?”

Uryu takes a minute to think, but Renji answers right away, “Hell no! They’re only Mod Souls. Like hell they have power like that.”

“But you’re forgetting,” Uryu begins, “They _did_ make Hoshiko-san and Sado disappear and everyone had forgotten about her, so… it’s possible.”

“Yeah, but…” I speak up, “This is a much larger number of people. A whole school? Are you sure something like that is possible, Uryu? I mean… that’s a lot of Reiryoku they’d need to use and aren’t Mod Souls mostly based for physical enhancements, anyway? I bet you’ve never seen Kon fire out a Reiryoku-based attack, have you?”

“They’re all made differently.” Renji steps in, “Mod Souls, I mean… Some can be made with only physical enhancements in mind, while others can be made for healing, Kido or specific talents and so on… but you do have a point, Hoshiko. All Mod Souls are made with an internal limiter—it limits how powerful they can be or become during their lifespan. It stops them from rising up and running amuck on the Shinigami who have put them in their Gigai. They shouldn’t be able to pull off something like that regardless.”

The group of us goes silent for a moment before Uryu speaks up, “Hoshiko-san… Sado… do you remember what happened between your kidnapping and appearing at the museum?”

“We were… floating in darkness.” Sado speaks up first. “It was hard to move.”

“No,” I tell him, “I don’t remember too much and if I try to… my brain gets all fuzzy. Not very helpful, I know, but it’s what I remember.”

Uryu sighs loudly and Ichigo claps a hand on his shoulder, “You can’t figure it out?”

“No,” Uryu pushes up his glasses, “My best guess is that gate connects to an inter-dimensional space.”

“Like a pocket dimension?” I question. Uryu turns to me, nodding, “That would make sense. It would explain why we weren’t able to be sensed after being taken. If it’s something like that… the size of it can change from being the literal size of a pocket to holding something like an entire town.”

“If we’re speaking in terms of something like this—a dimension that can do such feats as what Hoshiko-san has said,” Uryu continues, “It’s plausible that they may be able to take everyone. But… more than this… I’m worried about something else.”

“Like what?” Ichigo presses.

“The ‘disappearing’ thing they mentioned.” Uryu admits, “She said ‘vanish’. She didn’t say they would just be taken.”

“You don’t mean…” Renji trails, eyes wide.

“Ah, these Mod Souls could be… planning on killing them once they’re there.” Uryu says solemnly.

“That’s not funny! Like hell I’d let them do that!” Ichigo shouts as two hands clamp down on his shoulders. He’s quick to turn, elbowing the person in the stomach.

“Ohh…” Keigo groans, barely managing to stay standing up. “Ichigo-chan… so scary so early in the morning…” He recovers much quicker than imagined and behind him, Mizuiro greets us. “Oh, Ichigo-chan, what’s with this get-up? You look like you’ve been out all ni--!” Keigo cuts himself off with a heavy gasp, hands flying to his head, “N-No, say it ain’t so, Ichigo-chan! You left me out? And… you took _Ishida-san_ instead of me?”

Much to my amusement, Uryu does look offended by Keigo’s tone of voice, “It’s okay, Uryu. I’d take you as opposed to him.” I pat him on the shoulder.

Keigo cries loudly, while Ichigo tries to calm him down, “Look, a lot has happened… and don’t call me ‘chan’!”

“Hey, Tatsuki!” I greet, waving at her. Tatsuki runs up to me, looking me over and then looking to the others.

“Oh… Hoshiko, what happened? Where’s your uniform?” She questions, looking me over. “Is it… _that_?” I can only assume ‘that’ refers to anything that has to do with… well, anything spiritual. She cuts her eyes at Ichigo, who is still trying to calm Keigo down while the others watch.

“More than less…” I shrug awkwardly. “Um… it’s a lot… I guess.”

Tatsuki nods, smiling slightly, “Well, just be safe, okay?” I nod just as the bell rings.

“Hey, Hoshiko-san.” Keigo taps me on the shoulder, “Your brother, is he staying long?” I turn, staring at Keigo and noting he looks a little banged up. “And… are you sure he’s your brother… he seems more than related to Ichigo… that kick really hurt!”

“Ahah…” I laugh awkwardly, “Well… Kurosaki and… my brother were… they were childhood friends!”

“That explains a lot, actually.” Tatsuki frowns, watching the two. “The only thing you two seem to have in common is your hair color. Anyway, let’s get inside, hm? Maybe they have a spare uniform for you.” I follow Tatsuki inside and up to my shoe locker.

“Oh…” I murmur, pulling out the extra uniform stuffed inside. A card falls out with it, though it’s blank when I turn it over both sides. Pressing some reiatsu into it, I see Jinta’s ugly handwriting on the card, telling me Urahara thought I might need a uniform.

Why would Urahara know that I needed a uniform? Better yet, if I had been kidnapped… why didn’t Urahara come after them for me? Unless… he somehow had a hand in this? Actually… this made a lot of sense.

Renji had said that Mod Souls were made to order and Urahara was known for going above and beyond… so, who’s to say that he didn’t have a hand in this? But… maybe he had put this here before? Just in case I had come back before I could get the chance to go see him or find my way home? I mean, I’d been gone for a couple of days now, so it was plausible.

Urahara couldn’t be in on this… could he? After all, he did help out the others, so maybe he didn’t know anything about it? The bell rings once more and I put on my indoor shoes, heading into the school to find the bathroom to change. Afterwards, I return to the classroom.

Uryu, Sado and Ichigo are in the classroom, but there’s no sign of Renji which, I’ll be honest, scares me a little. He could be off causing trouble or better yet… he could be the imposter. But… I had sneaking suspicions that he wasn’t the imposter. Renji felt like he had felt that night at dinner, there was nothing off about him.

I turn to Uryu, looking him over. He also felt the same—if not somewhat diminished in power. Maybe he’d used a lot of his Reiryoku while they were playing these games with the Mod Souls? Well, it’d definitely be a topic of conversation for later.

Ichigo… he… well, he was the same as always. Reiatsu on full blast, even from within his body. He needed one of Urahara’s bracelets for sure. I then turn my sights to Sado.

I’d spent a lot of time with Sado—out of the group of us, Sado and I probably spent the most time together, so I could pick out his reiatsu just as easily as I could Urahara or Tatsuki and… he felt different. Maybe they had changed him somewhat inside that dimension, but… he still felt off. Like he wasn’t all the way Sado. I shook it from my mind, turning back to the board. Despite getting involved in all this nonsense, I still had school and I had to get those good grades.

I scan the classroom once more, noting the appearance of another redhead. Just great. Why couldn’t Renji just… stay outside somewhere? Somewhere out of sight so that we didn’t have to see his nasty clothes?

“Don’t come so close!” Ichigo nearly shouts, “You’re being gross!”

“What? I was behaving myself until you started getting cheeky!” Renji stands up, effectively disrupting the class.

“Bring it, then! C’mon!” Ichigo stands up as well, getting in Renji’s face. I grunt, send my eraser sailing right into Renji’s face. I smirk slightly with glee when it hits him straight in the forehead. My aim wasn’t the best, but I did get lucky breaks sometimes.

“Oi, Hoshiko, you want some of this too? You can join in!” Renji gestures to himself, “You brats!”

“You don’t want _none_ of what I am right now, you loser!” I yell at the two, “Stop being annoying like this! Renji, you need to go!” Renji glares at me just as our sensei throws two pieces of chalk at Renji and Ichigo.

“As much as I _love_ a man in vintage clothing, I’m going to ask that you take your spat outside.” She points towards the door. Ichigo clicks his teeth, stomping outside while Renji follows. “And Inoue-san… your brother, should learn some discipline.”

“I know…” I sigh, moving to sit down, but Ochi-sensei clicks her tongue, shaking her finger in my direction. “Wh-What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Inoue-san, but you’re going to have to go out there too.” She says, “Someone needs to watch those boys, after all.”

“B-But why does it have to be _me_?” I whine.

“Well, he’s _your_ brother.” Ochi-sensei says, “I’ll let you back in if you convince him to go on a date with me.” I stare at her, unsure if she’s being serious or kidding. “Just… Just go.” I leave the classroom, frowning.

“Look what you two did!” I sneer as I leave the classroom. The two turn to look at me, “Thanks, oni-chan!” I smack Renji hard on the back.

“Hey! Watch it! Smack me a little harder and I probably would’ve come out of this gigai!” Renji yelps, glaring at me. “…why are you out here anyway?”

“Because of you!” I hiss, “You’re so useless, you should’ve gone back to Urahara’s!”

“Yeah, that would’ve done us a world of good.” Ichigo agrees. “Well, now that we’re out here, we should talk about who we think the imposter is.”

“I dunno,” Renji shrugs, “The more I thought about it, the more I think your stuffed animal is right. It’s you, isn’t it?” He turns to look at me.

“Wh-What? No way!” I tell him, “I’m sure you’d know if the imposter was me.”

“You were impersonated once before.” Renji continues, “So, how do we know you’re the real Hoshiko?”

“Do something only you would do.” Ichigo tells me, “I’m having a hard time believing that you’re _not_ you—as weird as that sounds—based on what I’ve seen alone.”

“Hmm… something only I would do…” I tap my finger against my chin. What was something only I could do? “Ah,” I pull Ichigo’s ear, “How about that?”

“Tch, no.” Ichigo shakes his head. “You do that in public… we don’t know how long these people have been watching us.”

“You’re right…” I frown, poking my chest, “Well, it’s best not to think on an empty stomach…” I untie my ribbon and unbutton my shirt a little, much to the strange look of horror on Ichigo’s face and curiosity of Renji and pull out a chocolate bar. “I should ea—oh, Kurosaki, Renji… do you want one? I know you didn’t eat yet, right? I’ve got more in here…”

“I believe you.” Ichigo claps a hand on my shoulder, “Y-You’re… Inoue. Just… please b-b-button up y-your shirt.”

“Hm? Why? I mean, I know summer is pretty much over, but it’s still pretty hot and keeping it buttoned all the way is a lot of work, you know.” I tilt my head, pointing my candy bar at him. “Hoi, Renji, how do we know it’s not _you_?”

“M-Me?”

“Yeah!” Ichigo turns around, staring down Renji. “Accusing Inoue of being it when it could be you as well.”

“Mm! Take it off so we know it’s you!” I suggest, the two of us stepping closer to him. Renji backs up, putting his hands up in mock surrender. “Santen Kesshun! I reject!” I use the shield to trip up Renji, sending him flailing to the ground. “Kurosaki!”

“Yeah!” Ichigo leaps on Renji, fighting to keep him pinned down, “Inoue, get my badge!” I move towards Ichigo, kneeling to fumble around for the badge strapped to his waist. It’s hard to do anything since they keep moving and I accidentally undo Ichigo’s belt buckle in the process.

“Take it off, Renji!” I demand, punching him in the side. “This will be easier on you if you do!”

“No! Wait a minute!” Renji protests, pushing Ichigo back.

“We can’t wait! We need to know now!” I shout back, “Do it now... Kurosaki!”

“Or I’ll do it myself!” Ichigo threatens. "Inoue, my badge!"

“Why did you put it there? It's looped on there tight!” I grunt, hearing the door slide open. I quickly back away while Renji and Ichigo grunt and wrestle around on the floor. Chizuru is the first to speak, screaming loudly.

“This love, it’s _forbidden_!” She screams, clutching her hands tightly against her chest. Ichigo immediately sits up, looking back at them, his face quickly turning red.

“I-I-I- _Inoue_!” Ichigo turns to me, “T-Tell them… this isn’t what it looks like.” Ichigo’s eyes are pleading with me, but I give him a cat-like smirk and the look on his face is once again, one of horror. “N-No…”

“Oh!” I drape a hand dramatically against my forehead.

“No…” Ichigo slowly stands up, leaving Renji on the floor.

“Kurosaki-kun!” I say loudly, dramatically, “I wanted to give you my blessing, but you move too quickly!” I spin, falling back into Ichigo’s arms. “How am I to compete?”

“Inoue, stop this!” Ichigo tries his hardest not to touch me as much.

“You’re such a sly dog, going after my brother like this!” I say, righting myself, “I can’t believe you’d do such a lewd thing in broad daylight!”

“Inoue! E-Everyone, it’s not like that!” Ichigo blushes darker. “Dammit…” The group of students stares in shock before a flurry of whispers rises up and Uryu and Sado, I can see, stare 

“Hoi, hoi… I’ve had my fun… Let’s fix this, then.” I say, clapping my hands. “This is something Urahara gave me… it works a little better than the one Rukia was using.” I pull the device out of my skirt pocket and hold it out. “Don’t look directly at it.”

It’s similar in appearance to a pen—well, similar to a Sailor Moon pen—with a star on the top. I click it and a large flash momentarily blinds us. Everyone stares at us blankly, aside from Uryu and Sado. “Okay, let’s do this again.”

“What’s going on out here?” Ochi-sensei says, “Why was there yelling?”

“Sensei!” I sniffle, eyes watering. Ichigo backs away from me, obviously surprised at the sudden change. “My brother, he… he needs to go to the infirmary right away! He missed his medications, you see… he needs to lie down while I give them to him!”

“Oh!” Ochi-sensei’s eyes widen, concern written across her face. “D-Do you need help?”

“No, Kurosaki and I can handle it. I’m sorry we caused such a scene…” I bow to her. “Kurosaki… can you grab him, please?”

“Uh… yeah…” Ichigo finally says, moving to help pick up Renji, who is nearly laying catatonic, unsure of what to do. The three of us then make our way down the hall, but I turn, gesturing for Uryu and Sado to meet us later.

* * *

“So… what was that all about?” Uryu asks when we meet outside during the break.

“Long story short… Kurosaki thinks that Renji is the copy guy.” I explain. “And I sort of… egged them on to fight?” Uryu stares at me in disproval, “C’mon! It was funny, don’t you think? Sado?” Sado doesn’t respond and I frown, “Well, _I_ thought it was funny…”

I watch Sado closely. Usually he would still nod or something but… he did nothing. It was getting hard to believe that he wasn’t the imposter. “Regardless, we don’t know how strong this man’s ability is. Maybe he can sustain two forms. That was a very reckless way to go about doing things.” Uryu replied.

 “At any rate, it’s still too soon to tell.” I tell him, “I mean, we… we still have some time, so we can figure it out.”

“Hoshiko-san,” Uryu then says, “That device, what… was it? I’ve never seen it before. May I see it?” I pull out the pen, holding it in my open palm for Uryu to take. “When did you receive this?”

“About a week or so ago.” I tell him, “I told Urahara my plan to tell Tatsuki about this and… he gave me this pen, just in case she reacted, well, badly. It’s not important, but it just saved Kurosaki from the worst day of his life.”

“…very interesting.” Uryu hands the pen back to me, “But, back to the topic at hand. Kurosaki, that was a bad move, luckily Hoshiko-san was able to cover it up. I just have something to add—we only know that he can copy appearances, but do we know if he can copy abilities too?”

“I didn’t… think about that…” Ichigo admits, looking down at the ground. “That means… it really _could_ be any one of us…”

I can feel a tense wave of apprehension flow through us at Uryu’s words. “Way to bring down the mood, Uryu…” I grumble, frowning. “Let’s get back to class. The break is almost over.” The group agrees, heading back into the school while Ichigo argues with Renji. “Hoi, Sado.” I grip his arm, “I was thinking about sneaking to the cafeteria… do you want me to bring you anything back?”

“Ah…” Sado responds, nodding slightly. “Anything with extra cucumbers. I’ll pay you for it in class.”

“U-Uh… sure…” I let him go, watching as he heads into the school. Sado hates cucumbers—it was one of the first things I learned about his food preferences! I totally knew who the imposter was now.

All I had to do was figure out how to tell everyone. I head back inside, just in time for Ochi-sensei to tell us that it’s time for P.E. after sharing a quick nod with the boys, I follow Tatsuki out of the classroom where she breaks off. “I hate that they don’t have bathrooms in the locker room…” She rolls her eyes. “I’ll be back.”

“I’ll wait as long as I can!” I shout after her, waving. Chizuru comes out of the classroom next and the two of us head down to the locker room to change. Afterwards, we head outside, but I feel… off. Tatsuki wouldn’t normally take this long. And P.E. time, yeah, there’d be a lot of skippers in the bathroom, but they never took up the stalls.

What was taking her so long? “Hey, Ryo… Mahana.” I greet them, “Have you guys seen Tatsuki? She’s usually the first one here.” The two shake their heads and I frown just as the sensei comes over to start roll call. Tatsuki would never skip gym, “Where is she…?”

“Is anyone absent?” He asks the crowd of students.

“Arisawa isn’t here yet.” I raise my hand.

“Hmph, probably in the bathroom or something. She’ll come eventually, I’m sure.” He shrugs, moving on with roll call.

“I already got one!” A small, feminine voice says to my left, “If you guys don’t hurry and find the impersonator, more will disappear! I want you to know I’m seri—woah!” I grab her, but she flips out of my grip, disappearing before anyone else can see her.

“Y-You… you’re…” I take a moment to calm myself, feeling for Tatsuki’s Reiryoku signature. I can’t find it. “She’s--!” I push my way through the crowd, running back towards the school.

“Hey, where are you—!”

“Inoue! Inoue, wait!” Ichigo calls after me, but I don’t stop to tell them anything, instead I just keep running until I’m inside the school and on the third floor. I skid to a halt, looking around the hallway. “Inoue, what happened? Why did you run?”

“That little girl came again!” I tell them, “She… She said someone was taken and… I can’t feel Tatsuki at all!” I scan the hallway again, noting a blue wristband on the ground, running over to it, I snatch it up, pulling on in to look inside. There’s a star-shaped symbol inside. “This is Tatsuki’s!”

“How can you be sure?” Uryu asks and I whirl around, pulling on the wristband to show him.

“I made her this! I always put a star on things I make! And Tatsuki… she always wears this. She says it’s lucky. She wouldn’t just… leave it behind! Can you feel her? Tatsuki isn’t around at all!” I shout at him, “They took her!”

“Hoshiko-san, you should calm down,” Uryu tries, “We don’t know for sure she was taken.” He places a hand on my shoulder, but I slap it away. He recoils in shock.

“No! You don’t know what you’re talking about, _Ishida-san_!” My voice goes cold, “Maybe if you weren’t such an asshole and had close friends, you’d know how I feel!”

“Inoue, you need to chill, that’s uncalled for!” Ichigo yells at me. “Apologize to Uryu!”

“You’re one to talk! Everything you _do_ is uncalled for! You’re probably the reason they’re coming after everyone!” I accuse him. “Tatsuki didn’t deserve this! To be wrapped up in all this mess! She can’t even protect herself!”

“You’re the imposter…” Uryu pushes up his glasses, “Aren’t you, Inoue-san?”

“Wh-What?” My eyes go wide and I clutch Tatsuki’s wristband a little tighter. “How am I the imposter?”

“You’re using Arisawa-san as an excuse to draw attention away from yourself—acting hysterical for no reason.” Uryu replies, “Hoshiko-san wouldn’t act this way.”

“Fuck you! You don’t know me!” I shout, pulling back my fist to punch Uryu. “Kurosaki, let me _go_!” Ichigo clutches my fist, pulling me away from Uryu, “He doesn’t know _shit_ about me!”

“Inoue, calm down! This fighting… I’m sure it’s what they want us to do!” Ichigo, surprisingly the voice of reason, says, “We all need to calm down and think about this. We can’t fight.” He turns me, placing his hands on my shoulder, “Don’t worry… we’re going to get her back, okay?”

“Oh… that’s so cool of you…” Ririn’s stupid voice floats over to us, “You’re like a movie star, reciting these lines.”

“You!” I shout, pulling myself away from Ichigo to stare Ririn down.

“Can you do it, though?” Ririn looks at her nails, “I mean… time is almost up now.”

“We can do it. We do still have an hour.” Ichigo responds, stepping towards the window.

“Well you all look serious…” Ririn comments, “Yes, you do still have an hour.” She giggles, “But with the way things are going… it doesn’t look like that hour will help you much.”

“Tsubaki!” I shout. Tsubaki flies through the window, shattering it and slicing into Ririn’s arm. “Don’t fuck with me! Bring back Tatsuki! Take someone else, just not her!”

Ririn looks shocked, clutching her arm, a look of stormy anger crossing her features. “Wow, impulsive…” She grits out, “Well… I know I didn’t say this, mostly because I didn’t think I’d need to but… for attacking me, I’m reducing your time by a whole half hour! Now you only have thirty minutes to figure out who the imposter is! Good luck and make sure you thank your friend!”

Ririn giggles, though it sounds forced and the two retreat. I fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She def did.
> 
> Next time!: 
> 
> “Barring the fact that what you two consider indecent is… odd at best, we have more pressing matters to attend to.” Uryu cuts in.


	36. The Bount Arc: Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for The Mod-Soul Arc to END !! Thank god.

“Dammit!” Ichigo kicks the wall. “Inoue—I-Inoue?” I wipe the stray tears from my face, sniffling quickly, turning away from them.

“I shouldn’t have done that…” I finally say, “I _really_ shouldn’t have done that. I-I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine.” Ichigo places a hand on my shoulder. This boy, he was way too nice and way too forgiving. I just put us on a time crunch because I couldn’t control myself. “If anything… this might be the push we need. We’ve been procrastinating for too long. We should hurry and find Renji and make our decisions.”

What if this whole thing affected how things turned out in the end? My memories were still kind of messed up, so I didn’t know what was coming next. “Hey, I just saw Ririn and the other guy…” Renji runs up to us. “She yelled that we only had thirty minutes—I thought we had an hour?”

“Yeah, she reduced the time when I attacked her.” I frown, looking over at him. “They… already started taking people.” Renji’s eyes widen as he looks to the others.

“They took one of our friends already.” Ichigo informs him, “We were just about to go looking for you, so let’s all just go back to the classroom and make our decision.” Renji and Ichigo lead the way, with Sado in the middle while Uryu and I lead up the rear.

We’re mostly silent and after my whole… well, my yelling thing, I was feeling some instant regret. I shouldn’t have yelled at Uryu like that, but… this was _Tatsuki_ we were talking about. She had no way of protecting herself when it came to this type of stuff and it burned to know that she was stolen right from under our noses—and even more so that the only one who seemed bothered by it was… well, me.

I want to say something to Uryu—to apologize for saying something like that because… it wasn’t true, I was just… upset, but I decide against it. I’d let Uryu stew in what whatever it was he was stewing in for now and later on, I’d talk to him.

Once we reach the classroom, we stand outside a moment, until Uryu speaks, “We should probably make calls to the Urahara shop and the Soul Society… just in case this becomes bigger.”

“Y-Yeah, I’ll go call the Soul Society.” Renji walks away, pulling out his phone.

“Let’s go inside and call Urahara, then.” Ichigo pulls open the door, letting us all in before he follows after us. Ichigo pulls out his phone, scrolling through his contacts before he finally finds the store’s number and presses it, putting it on speaker.

 _“Yes… Urahara Shoten…”_ Jinta drawls over the phone.

“Red-haired boy.” Ichigo greets.

 _“Ah? Spiky-haired guy…”_ Jinta sounds less than thrilled, _“Why are you calling in the middle of the day? Need some love advice? Or something?”_

“W-What? Why would you--!”

 _“Eh? Why? Well, it only makes sense I mean… that whole… chocolate chunk thing?”_ Jinta drawls once more, _“Haha, that guy was less than thrilled to hear that! Remember?”_

“Kurosaki, what’s he talking about?” 

“N-Nothing! Just… you take the phone!” Ichigo thrusts the phone at me, blushing and looking away. “That boy…”

“Mmm… alright…” I hold the phone up to my face, “Hoi, Bakakari.”

 _“Hoi, Baka akage.”_ Jinta says over the speaker. _“How’s it going?”_

“Terrible.” I respond, “Is Yoruichi there? Maybe Kiicha?”

 _“Hm? Oh, her? Not since this morning, I think.”_ Jinta responds _, “I don’t know where she is… and I ain’t seen oyabun in a while either. Those two are always…”_

“Ah…” I frown, “Just tell them we were looking for them if they come back.” I hang up shortly after that and frown, looking at the group. “Well, that was a bust.” The door slides open and Renji stands in the doorway, watching us.

“How was it? Were you able to call them?” Ichigo asks.

Renji sighs, shaking his head, “I don’t know why, but no, I wasn’t able to contact them…”

“What should we do? We don’t have many options left.” Sado finally speaks up.

“Maybe…” Uryu cuts in, “Maybe we already know who the imposter is.”

“If you’re suggesting Inoue again—!”

“No, I mean…” Uryu is quick to say, “Maybe we’ve all guessed small inconsistencies between us and we can correctly guess who the imposter is.”

“Guess?” The rest of us repeat. Uryu nods, pushing up his glasses.

“Yes, guess.” Uryu confirms, “Put more eloquently, our intuition.”

“Intuition?” We repeat once more, giving Uryu disbelieving looks.

“Yes, intuition. If our intuitions match, then that person will be the imposter!” Uryu informs us.

“Well, let’s get started, we only have less than thirty minutes now.” Ichigo says. We’re all quiet before Ichigo speaks up again, “Then… I’ll go first. Everyone line up against the wall.” The four of us line up against the wall while Ichigo stands in front of us, staring us all down. “Based on my intuition… I pick… you! Ishida Uryu!”

“Wh-What!” Uryu yelps out, voice cracking from shock. “Why would you pick me?”

“It can’t be Inoue, based on earlier when she… she…” Ichigo clears his throat, “A-Anyway, it’s not her and it’s not Renji either, we already proved him as well! Sado’s just like he’s always been, so it has to be you!”

“I’ll prove it’s not me!” Uryu pulls a stuffed animal from his bag, then pulled out his sewing kit and in under five minutes, the animal is dressed in a style that can only be considered ‘Uryu’. “Can the imposter replicate a learned skill? I think  _not_!”

Ichigo clicks his tongue as Uryu continues, “Besides, the one who would be the most suspicious is… him! Despite my earlier accusations of Hoshiko-san… I instead believe it to be Abarai-san based on this analysis! He’s the most distant to us and has the least likelihood of being discovered! We don’t know the extent of the shape shifters powers, so Abarai-san’s ability to enter the Gigai could also be a trick! Working in tandem with Ririn’s illusionary powers!”

“What? That’s stupid! In this case, the least suspicious is the most suspicious!” He turns on me, “It has to be Hoshiko! She _was_ abducted and impersonated once before!”

“We already established that I’m not the imposter, though!” I stomp my foot, “Don’t you remember the hallway incident? Kurosaki already cleared me.”

“Why? Because you store candy in your bra?” Renji scoffs. “That just makes Ichigo sound like a pervert for knowing something like that!”

“Yes, that may be!” I yell back, “But everyone here knows I do it!”

“This is true.” Uryu, surprisingly, aids me, “We are all aware of Hoshiko-san’s habits from our Soul Society trip.”

“Inoue, you’re not helping the case… If anything, you’re making it worse!” Ichigo frowns. “ _Ah_! This isn’t working! This intuition idea was a bad one!” He rubs his hands in his hair, grunting.

“Aw… this isn’t any good…” Ririn appears, sitting on the desk. Ichigo stands in front of me, throwing an arm out, obviously baring me from trying to attack. “You all have less than ten minutes left, you know? How about this makes an incentive for you? Look outside!” We all move towards the window, just in time to see students disappearing one by one and then… all together.

“What the hell is going on?” Ichigo shouts at Ririn. Ririn sits on the teacher’s desk, looking no worse for wear and as if I hadn’t even hurt her. She’s smirking. I really, really hate her right now.

“Oh… ah, sorry.” Ririn sticks out her tongue. “I took more than I thought…” Ichigo moves to run towards her, but I stop him, calling out my shield and he smacks into it.

“I still haven’t chosen who I think the imposter is.” I tell him, “Give me a chance to answer.”

“Well,” Ririn replies, “You _don’t_ have to answer. You _can_ give up.”

“Wh-What?” Ichigo stands up, “Give up?”

“Yeah!” Ririn replies cheerily, “You can give up and I’ll bring _everybody_ back! But… there’s one thing you must do.”

“What’s that?” I ask her, eyes narrowed.

“In exchange for bringing them back… you must give your lives up.” She giggles.

“You’re crazy!” Renji shouts, pointing at her.

“Am I? Because of you all, innocent people are being involved in something they shouldn’t be. This is the least you could do, you know.” Ririn twirls her hair with her finger. “…I wanted to reiterate to you all that this is a serious battle, you know.”

“I still want my turn!” I yell at her. “Sado and I haven’t answered.”

“Fine, I’ll allow this. I wanna see what funny things you come up with.” Ririn kicks her feet. “Go ahead.” I look to Sado, allowing him to go first.

“I choose Ichigo… like Inoue said earlier… he got us into this.” Sado points accusatorily at Ichigo. Ichigo’s eyes widen slightly, though he is clearly feeling betrayed by Sado. “Inoue, who do you chose?”

I move to make my answer, but a steadily approaching reiatsu stops me. I turn towards the window. “Wait… do you see that?” I ask, pointing out the window. “It’s Yoruichi!”

“Hey! Yoruichi!” Ichigo slams into the window, waving his arm, “Yoruichi! Yoruichi!” With her is… Sui-Feng and the two don’t seem to notice, as they run, jumping the fence easily and jumping towards the window. I pull Ichigo back, just out of range of Sui-Feng’s glass-breaking kick.

“They were of no help…” Ichigo frowns, turning around to face us. “She didn't even notice us. We're in a crisis and she's just hanging out doing whatever.”

“That woman looked… rather determined.” Sado comments, clutching his shirt. Strike three, you’re out. Ichigo eyes Sado for a moment before Ririn whines loudly, making us all look to her.

“C’mon, now… we’re waiting on you, red-head.” Ririn crosses her arms, “Enough distractions!”

“Hoi, hoi…” I cross my arms, “Fine, I’m ready. …Earlier today, I asked Sado what he wanted from the cafeteria.” I begin, “And you said… _tomatoes_.” I tilt my head, “And… it was funny, because the first thing I learn about a person when I decide I want to be their friend is their favorite—or least favorite—thing to eat. Tatsuki loves cherries, but she _hates_ peas. And Uryu, what’s your favorite sweet?”

“…Lychee macaroons?” Uryu questions, unsure of where I’m going.

“Don’t worry, I have a point with this.” I wave away his concern, “And Kurosaki… you’re allergic to…?”

“Oranges…” Ichigo supplies. I nod, grinning.

“So, when Sado said he wanted something with extra cucumbers… I _knew_ something was up.” I tell them, “Why? Because Sado hates cucumbers. He’s hated them since he was a child. And just then, before Yoruichi appeared, he called me Inoue. Only Kurosaki calls me that now. Therefore… I believe Sado is the imposter.”

‘Sado’ chuckles, “That was probably the most thought out reason out of your group… well done, Inoue-san.” Sado’s form shifts into a man with two hair colors. He smirks at us, clapping.

“Of course. If you’re going to impersonate my friends, you should probably know their likes and dislikes better.” I smirk, “I won’t forgive you for this.”

“You’ll take responsibility…” Uryu adds.

“I’mma kick your ass!” Renji thrusts his fist into his waiting palm.

“Woah, hostile! A bad audience!” He throws his hands up.

“How about you shut up!” Ichigo runs at them, a punch directed at the man.

“Tch, Tsubaki!” I call out at the same time, aiming for Ririn once again. The two disappear in a mirage of blue and reappear outside on top of the fence.

“You two are too battle happy.” Ririn says in distaste, “Always wanting to punch someone or hit something.” She shakes her head.

“Bring back Tatsuki!” I shout, running over to the windows with the others. “And maybe I’ll consider stopping!”

“Maa… they’re safe! And they’ll continue to be safe as long as you play this last game…”

“We’ve had enough games!” Ichigo shouts at her, “Cut the crap!”

“Oh, but you’ll want to play this game, I mean… don’t you want your friend back? The big boy and all the others are still in our care, after all…” Ririn smirks.

“Wh-Where is he? Where’s Chad?” Ichigo loudly asks. Ririn only giggles, shaking her head.

“Just wait for a signal—you’ll know when.” She winks at us before the three disappear.

“Dammit!” Ichigo yells, turning away from the window. “What do we do now?”

“All we can do—wait.” Uryu replies. “School might as well be over… the class has been taken. …Let’s change and meet up outside.” Without much protest, we all go our separate ways.

* * *

“Uryu!” I call out to him, coming to walk next to the boy. “I… listen, about earlier… I…”

“It’s fine.” Uryu responds. “I… I’m sorry if I offended you. Arisawa-san is your close friend and I made it seem as if I didn’t care.”

“I should be apologizing! What I said was…” I frown, “It wasn’t… I was just really angry, but I shouldn’t have said what I did. You’re my friend too, you know? I mean…I know it didn’t sound like it then but…” I stop walking and in turn, Uryu stops as well. “We _are_ friends, Uryu. Really good friends, I want to believe. I want you to know that.”

“Of course, Hoshiko-san.” He responds, but it seems as if he doesn’t believe me.

“Uryu!” I yelp, surprising him if the look on his face is anything to go by. “Look at me! I’m serious! We’re friends, okay? I mean, I’ve considered you my friend for… a long time now. So, I’m really… really sorry I said all that. You don’t have to forgive me right away… or at all if you wish, but… I am sorry. That… that’s not something you should say to a friend, what I said to you.”

Uryu stares at me a little longer before he finally nods. “Of course, Hoshiko-san. We are friends.” He says with more emotion. “I guess friends do have disagreements.” Relief at his more truthful admission floods through me and I smile at him, ruffling his hair.

“Yeah, they do. But afterwards, they make up because one friend feels really, really bad about what they said. So… if anything is wrong, Uryu… you can tell me, you know?” I prod him, standing in front of him. “Like… anything at all.” Uryu watches me for a moment. I want him to say something, tell me why he doesn’t feel the same as he did.

Uryu stares back at me, finally nodding, “Yes, if anything is wrong… I’ll tell you, Hoshiko-san. But I’m fine, truly. Nothing to worry about.” I give him a look, telling him that I don’t really believe him, but for now I’m just going to let it go. I couldn’t push him, especially after what I’d said.

“Good! I’m glad you aren’t… feeling some type of way. I’m still going to make it up to you though! That was a dick move of me… but for now, c’mon! We’ve gotta rescue everyone!” I take off, running towards the stairs.

Somehow, our group seems… smaller without Sado towering over us and adding in his ‘state-the-obvious’ input. It’s weird and unwelcomed. Our whole dynamic was thrown off without him.

We spend the rest of the day wandering around town, since Uryu thought it best to actively look for clues instead of just waiting for them to give us one. I chew on the ice cream bar I’d managed to get Ichigo to buy me as I dial the Urahara Shoten number on Ichigo’s phone. My conversation with Jinta is quick and I frown, snapping the phone shut and chucking it at Ichigo as I return.

“Urahara still isn’t back.” I inform them. “What’s the fight about this time?”

“Kurosaki’s insistent sighing.” Uryu informs me with a frown of his own. “I’d have to agree with Abarai-san on this one, Kurosaki. It was getting annoying.”

“Tch, not cool, Uryu. You’re _my_ friend, you’re supposed to be on _my_ side!” Ichigo glares at him.

“Don’t bring him into your problem!” Renji says, obviously trying to start up another fight. “You’re the annoying one! Glasses said so!”

“Oh yeah?” Ichigo sizes Renji up once more. “And what are you gonna do about it?”

“It’s not what he’ll do, but what I’m gonna do!” I rush Renji, pushing him and using my foot to trip him. He tumbles to the ground, rolling down the grassy riverbank, stopping just centimeters from hitting the water. I turn to Ichigo, “You can be next if you two don’t get it together!”

“I agree with Hoshiko-san.” Uryu pushes up his glasses, “We can’t fight. Look at what happened earlier.” I burn in embarrassment at Uryu’s words. “And didn’t you say that earlier, Kurosaki? Not to fight amongst ourselves, I mean. Learn to listen to your own advice.” Ichigo blushes, looking away.

“Fine, Renji, come back up here.” Ichigo motions for the man to return and sits down. I sit down as well, finishing off my ice cream and balling up the wrapper, throwing it into the trashcan.

“I got game!” I cheer as it goes in.

“Yeah, sure.” Ichigo strokes his chin, “Inoue… are you sure you don’t remember anything?”

I shake my head, “I’m pretty sure.” I turn, leaning against Ichigo’s side, “If I remembered anything, I would’ve told you that by now. Aside from whoever that was impersonating my brother… I don’t remember much.”

It was odd, because I know that he was impersonating my brother but… I couldn’t remember what I’d said to him exactly about it. There was so much fuzziness surrounding that. “B-Back up!” Ichigo stutters, trying to push me away. All he does is move me so that I’m resting with my head against his leg.

“You can try all you like, Kurosaki, but I’m staying. Besides, what’s the big deal?” I reply, “Y’know, didn’t think you’d be comfy to lay on and yet...” I shift slightly, “You are. What a surprise. Guess you're not all lanky and bones.”

Ichigo clicks his tongue, but Kon hops up onto his other leg, “You should listen to me, you know! I know all about Mod Souls!”

“Oh?” Renji asks him, “Then tell us why they’re doing this, O Great Kon-sama.”

“That’s… um… uh…” Kon sweats—well, it looks like he’s trying to sweat, stuttering and jittering around on Ichigo’s other leg. “Y-You shut up, pineapple head!”

“Pineapple head!” Renji repeats, incredulous. “You wanna see what this pineapple head is capable of?”

“Ah! Inoue-san! Protect me!” Kon yelps, scrambling over to me. Ichigo smacks Kon, sending him flying away from us. “Ichigo, you meanie! Trying to keep all of Inoue-san’s feminine wiles to yourself!”

“Believe me! I don’t want them!” Ichigo retorts.

“Calm down, Kurosaki.” I turn to look up at him, “I’m just chillin’. You act like we haven’t shared a bed before, anyway. What’s the big deal?”

“I-I-I-It’s _indecent_!” Ichigo stutters, crossing his arms. “You shouldn’t be sharing a bed with someone like that! Y-You only do that with someone you l-lo—you shouldn’t just do that however you want!”

“Sharing a bed with a friend is nothing to be worried about.” I sit up, turning to look at him. “Indecent would be… h-holding hands in public where _everyone_ can see you...” I shiver. “Th- _That’s_ indecent!”

“Barring the fact that what you two consider indecent is… _odd_ at best, we have more pressing matters to attend to.” Uryu cuts in. “Why are these mod souls making us play games like this anyway? What could they possibly be gaining from this? They already, at one point, had Abarai-san and Kurosaki’s Zanpakutō. If that was the goal, they’d accomplished it.”

“But they gave them back.” I add in, “So it has to be something else. Maybe this is just a decoy for something bigger.”

“Ah, does it matter?” Renji throws out a hand, waving it. “I say we go back to the Urahara shop.”

“I don’t think that’s too good an idea.” Ichigo says, “We should wait for them here. Besides, we were there for an hour already, when you dropped off your Gigai.”

“But you said earlier they called the shop, so there’s obviously a connection there.” I counter, looking over at Ichigo, “If they know the shop number, when it’s time for something to happen, they can easily call us there. Plus… I’m getting hungry.”

“Me too, actually.” Renji pats his stomach.

“Grk, you just ate! I should know, my wallet is crying!” Ichigo sputters out.

“And I said I’d pay you back! I mean, I didn’t exactly have time to get some money since we were all messing around town! And the fact that I was kidnapped for two days! Or did you forget?”

“Yeah, you’re not getting that money back from me.” Renji casually informs him. “I don’t have it and I don’t think I ever will.”

“Just great…” Ichigo sighs.

“Sitting around on the riverbank won’t do us any good. We should move.” Uryu suggests, standing. Renji stands soon after and I sit up and grab onto him, using him to pull myself into a standing position.

The loud crackle of fireworks in the distance draws my attention, “Look!” Renji points above us where a small note flutters right into his hands. Ichigo snatches it from him and reads it.

“It says to… destroy the gate in thirty minutes.” Ichigo looks at us, confused. “What gate?”

“Probably… that large menacing one over downtown.” I point at the large black gate in the distance. “We should probably go.”

“Yeah. I think that’d be ideal.” Uryu responds. Ichigo pulls his badge off of his belt buckle and presses it against his chest, his body falls forward, crumpling on the ground. “Er, Kurosaki, do you think it’s a good idea to just… leave your body here?”

“We don’t have time to worry about that, let’s move!” Ichigo answers. I trade looks with Uryu before shrugging. Well, it wasn’t us who would have to deal with this in the end. Renji and Ichigo run ahead, but I stick back a moment to fix Ichigo so that he’s lying on the grass. If they thought he was sleeping, maybe they’d leave the body—after all, it wasn’t that late.

I catch up with the group as they head towards a more populated area, but instead of people running around it’s… strangely deserted. It seems as if I’m the only one who noticed, since everyone else is staring up at the large gate in awe. “It’s… so much bigger up close…” Ichigo’s voice is loud and filled with awe as the three stare.

“How do they expect us to destroy this?” Renji yells out, obviously angry.

“Uryu can try shooting it!” I suggest, “Quincy gather reishi in the air—he should be able to pull from the gate and Kurosaki to shoot it down!”

“No!” Ichigo throws a hand out, “Look over there!” He points just as Ririn’s giggling reaches us. The three Mod Souls stand on the ledge of the gate, looking down at us.

“What do you think?” Ririn’s voice somehow carries over to us. She throws her arms out wide, spinning, “This is pretty impressive, right?”

“Just cut it and tell us your plan already!” Ichigo yells back, “Why are you going to such lengths?”

“Aw… well it wouldn’t be any fun if I just went and told you, you know!” Ririn pouts, “You have to figure it out! This _is_ our final battle, you know!”

If anything, the wind starts blowing hard, knocking over trash cans and rattling the lampposts around us. “Everyone!” Uryu shouts, “Grab onto something!” The four of us split, running towards anything that can hold us to the ground.

A stronger wave passes through us, sending Kon hurtling towards the gate. “Kon!” I hear Ichigo shout. Kon says something back, but I’m not too sure what he says, instead, all I hear is Ririn’s stupid laugh—this was getting old real fast.

“You should just hurry up and admit defeat!” Kurodo shouts down at us, “It’ll make this all a lot less painful for you!”

“We need a plan!” I shout, “How are we gonna deal with this if we don’t have a—whoa!” I duck just as a trash can hurtles past me.

“We won’t give in to the likes of you!” Ichigo yells back, “Uryu! Think of a plan!” If this was any other situation, I would be laughing—how is Ichigo going to make a bold comment and then ask Uryu for help?

“Why do I have to?” Uryu shouts back, “I’m barely hanging on here!”

“Hey, hey! Pay attention to us! Look what I have!” I look to Ririn as she pulls out… Urahara’s hat?

“Wh-What have you done?” I shout, coughing when my voice rises too high. “You got Urahara?”

“How curious…” Ririn giggles, “Well, what do you plan on doing?”

“Fighting you! I swear to the high heavens if you’ve hurt him, I’ll—” I shout back just as Uryu screams out, the van he was holding onto flying up and towards the gate. My grip on the pole I’d been clinging to slackens, “Uryu— _whoa_!”

“Inoue!” Ichigo calls out, jumping out just as I pass by him. He grabs my arms, pulling me closer to him as I spot Uryu. Uryu isn’t too far away, but he’s far enough that he would need to move a little in order for me to grab him.

“Uryu, grab my hand!” I shout, reaching out towards him. Uryu is unresponsive to my calls, “Ayame! Check on Uryu!” I call out the fairy. She appears just as Renji jumps up, slicing through a lamppost. Ayame nods once, flying over to Uryu and landing on his uniform.

“Renji, keep Inoue for a minute!” Ichigo throws me over to Renji, who is surprised, but manages to keep me in his grip. “I’ll take care of this!” When Ichigo jumps up, my vision distorts for a moment.

“How is the glasses boy?” Renji asks me, somehow managing to stay afloat in the air current coming from the gate.

“Uryu is fine! He just hit his head and got knocked out.” I blink a couple of times. There was something familiar about my vision distorting like that, but I couldn’t place it. Had I done it before? Had… Inoue done that and I was just remembering it just now? “A-Ayame!” I call her. In a trail of flowers, Ayame returns to my hair pin. “Renji, go grab him!”

Renji grunts, pushing off of a nearby van, making use of random objects in order to make it over to Uryu. He grabs him in the nick of time, “Looks like Ichigo’s got this in the bag…” He smirks and the two of us watch Ichigo rise up, Zangetsu above his head.

“Wait, Kurosaki!” I shout, “If you use your Bankai here, the town…!”

“Anything is better than having the town get sucked in! We need to destroy the gate to get everyone back!” Ichigo yells, a large amount of reiatsu engulfing his form as he screams wordlessly, charging himself up. But… nothing happens.

“Ichigo, what’s happening?” Renji yells at him, letting go of Uryu and I to jump towards him.

“Renji, you asshole!” I shout, gripping Uryu.

“Sh-Shit!” Ichigo yells out, getting sucked into the gate. Renji goes next and I scream out, coughing and hacking loudly as Uryu and I are sucked into the gate as well.

* * *

When I feel my senses return to me… Uryu and I are laying side by side on my shield. “Hinagiku… Baigon… Lily…” I say their names, the shield fading. “Ah… thanks.”

I didn’t think I could summon them in times of trouble without the command like this. Baigon and Hinagiku return to the hairpins immediately after nodding at me, but Lily stays out a moment longer. “Call on us more often, will you?” Lily giggles, “Seems like Tsubaki and those healers get more action than we do.”

“Mm, thank you.” I nod, “I won’t neglect you.” She winks at me before disappearing in a flash of light and Uryu stirs beside me. “Uryu! Are you alright?”

“Hoshiko-san…?” Uryu rubs his head, “Where… where are we?”

“Inside the gate, I think.” I help him stand and look around. The terrain is rocky, and there’s a thick layer of fog around, even so low. “We must be up on a mountain or something.”

“Ah… the fog is rather low.” Uryu scratches his chin. I take note of the scar on it, flashing back to the Soul Society for a moment. “Kon, do you remember anything?”

I finally notice the stuffed animal climbing up my leg and lift it high, plucking him from my leg.

“I-Inoue-san!” Kon yelps out, “Wh-What a surprise! I… I didn’t know those were your lovely legs! Haha…”

“Can you go find Kurosaki and Renji?” I ask him, tilting my head, “It’d be really helpful.”

“Of course! Anything for Inoue-san!” Kon replies eagerly. I set him down and he runs away. I then turn back to Uryu, frowning.

“Uryu… why didn’t you do anything?” I ask him, “When I suggested you… you use your powers you… well, you looked rather panicked.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Uryu looks away from me. “I simply thought your idea wouldn’t work.” If this were any other day, I would have assumed he was just being petty, but there was a spike in his reiatsu that told me that this was a lie.

“Uryu… you don’t have your powers… do you?” I finally ask him. “I… I know a Quincy can lose their powers if… they go too far.” I chose my words carefully, looking over Uryu. Urahara had a wealth of knowledge on Quincy, some of which he’d imparted on me—I’m guessing for this reason. That man, always ten steps ahead of the crowd. I hope he was alright wherever those Mod Souls put him.

“I didn’t go too far. I… I still have my powers.” Uryu looks away, “Everything is… everything is fine. I just didn’t think I needed to use them then.”

I don’t believe Uryu for a second. His excuses are lame and… to be honest, he’s not a very good liar, with the way he fidgets and carries on, not at all looking me in the eyes. I had questions—from what I could remember about the Soul Society trip… Uryu went all out against Mayuri because… Mayuri experimented on his grandfather. He had a reason for his hatred and he put everything on the line to do something about it.

But… Since we got separated… he had no reason to go all out, so… he should’ve, in theory, still had his powers. Sado said that Uryu had fought against Captain Ukitake. But… knowing Ukitake, he wouldn’t have gone all out against Uryu. He would have tried to reason with him, but… Uryu wasn’t the type to reason with Shinigami aside from Ichigo and _maybe_ Rukia. Things were messed up and hard to figure out now that we had diverged from the correct timeline so much, but… I could surmise one thing: Ukitake and Uryu had to have fought, and during this fight… Uryu had gone all out and lost his powers. It was the only logical explanation, after all.

I break from my thoughts, intent on getting this out of Uryu. I know I wasn’t really in the place to demand things from him, especially after hurting his feelings like that earlier, but I had to know.

With that in mind, I grab Uryu’s shoulder, forcing him to look me in the eyes. “Uryu, you--!”

“Inoue! Uryu!” Ichigo’s loud voice cuts me off and I pull away, watching Renji and Ichigo approach. “There you guys are! Are you alright?”

“Ah…” I nod, looking them over, “We’re fine over here. How about you guys?”

“Much of the same.” Ichigo responds, looking around, “So… we’re inside the gate then?”

“Seems like it.” Uryu pushes up his glasses with a nod.

“I’m really starting to hate this sound…” I comment, looking around as Ririn’s giggle fills the air.

“Join the damn club.” Renji pulls out his sword, brandishing it in an attack stance.

“It’s amazing!” Ririn calls from our left. She stands on top of a hill with Kurodo and Noba, watching us, “How you all didn’t die. You’re made of tough stuff, aren’t you?”

“Finally, you show yourselves!” Ichigo shouts, pulling out Zangetsu. “I won’t forgive you for this!”

“How can you say that… when I brought a special surprise for you!” Ririn looks back, and we all notice Sado tied to a post behind them. Ichigo shouts out for him, “But that’s not the surprise! I think you deserve something special since you’ve lived this long, don’t you think?”

“Just cut the crap already!” I yell out, “We don’t like playing your dumb games!”

“Aw…” Ririn pouts, “Don’t be like that! After all, I’ve prepared this… challenge stage just for you all! Aren’t I kind?” She throws her hand up into the air and a glass slams down around Sado, shaking the ground. Looking up the length of it, I see the upper half is filled with sand. “And guess what? Noba and Kurodo will also participate! Triple the fun!”

“Well,” Kurodo tips his hat, “I’m glad we can show our true powers… Right, Noba?”

“Oh… yeah.” Noba responds curtly, looking back at us.

“Oh… yeah? That’s all you can say?” Kurodo points accusatorily at him, “Be more enthusiastic about this!”

“That’s enough!” Ririn smacks Kurodo’s hand, “Shut up, jeez!”

“As much as we love the comedy act, we’re gonna have to ask you to step off stage.” I comment, “Can we start this already?”

“Right, of course!” Ririn winks at us, “The time limit for this stage… unbelievable! It’s a whopping five whole minutes, wouldn’t you know! Save the big boy within that time limit and he’s yours. And if you don’t, well…” She drags her thumb across the air in front of her neck. “Are we clear?”

“Crystal.” Ichigo responds. I look back to the hourglass Sado is stuck in, noting that it’s already started pouring over him steadily.

“Alright!” Ririn claps, “Challenge stage… begin!” Kurodo and Noba run down the side of the plateau they’d been standing on while Ichigo and Renji charge forward, leaving Uryu and I behind with Kon.

Kurodo jumps, transforming into Ichigo in mid air and trading blows with him immediately. Noba is much sneakier, teleporting around Renji. I look back to Sado, then to Uryu. “Uryu… let’s go free Sado.”

Uryu nods and the two of us begin running. It’s easy to avoid the battles, since Ichigo and Kurodo have moved a little ways away and Noba is drawing Renji further out. Uryu, Kon and I run straight up the middle and I pump Reiryoku through my body, bending and jumping high into the air. I’m unstable, but I’m high enough that if I land, it’ll be on the plateau on which Ririn stands. “Ah… you’re a hardy one, aren’t you?” Ririn giggles, jumping up to meet me.

“So I’ve been told!” I aim a punch at her. Ririn moves out of my grasp, gripping my uniform shirt and twirling around, throwing me to the ground. “Tsubaki! Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily! Santen Kesshun! I reject!”

Tsubaki flies outward, the trail of flowers the only indication that he’s moving while I fly backwards towards the ground. My fall is stopped by the shield, which hovers at about the halfway mark of the plateau. “I guess it’s no fun having only them participate!” Ririn grins, flipping and bringing down a kick onto the shield. I stand, backing up and the shield moves with me, making Ririn miss us completely. “That’s not very nice!”

“Hitting someone isn’t nice either!” I yell back as she jumps onto the shield. “Stay still and this’ll only hurt a lot!” My fists glow pink and I run, charging at Ririn. The first couple of hits are feints, to get her lulled into a false sense of security and then… I deck her square in the face.

With the added power from my enhanced punch, she goes flying into the side of the plateau. I run after her, pushing off of the shield and trying to punch her once more, but I fall flat, my vision distorting as I see... the hourglass, though it looks much, much bigger.

I smack against my shield, immediately sitting up and trying to clear my vision. “Hoshiko-san, are you alright?” Uryu shouts from below me. Above me, Ririn cackles. I look up, seeing her standing with Noba and Kurodo once more.

“You’re all really… annoying. It’s time for the final attack!” Ririn throws her hand up and a large light engulfs the area. A pulling sensation, similar to that of the gate lifts me off of the shield.

“Ichigo! Do your Bankai!” Renji barks out, “It’s the only way!”

I hear Ichigo yell out in agreement and feel another wave of spiritual power flow through us. Ichigo is charging power, though I don’t turn to see it. I’m more focused on not flying away. I grip the edges of my shield, trying to stay on it, but there are cracks in it and it’s hard to stay concentrated on it. “T-Tsubaki!” I choke out, though he’s probably too far to hear me. “Smash it!”

Broken glass flies through my vision, the sound of it shattering is all we hear and the red light dissipates moments afterwards. “Wh-What?”

“Chad!” Ichigo yells, running up the side of the plateau and past me. My shield firmly snaps, the sound of shattering glass accompanying it as the fairies are sent back to the hairpins.

“Tch, hold on!” I hear Renji shout. In seconds, I’m snatched out of the air by Renji and we’re standing next to Ichigo.

“Sado, are you alright?” I look him over. “Quick, what debatable vegetable do you hate the most?”

“T-Tomatoes…?” Sado tilts his head to the side. “I also don’t like pickles.”

“This is the real Sado.” I confirm with a nod, “Are you alright?” Sado nods as Uryu pushes to the front.

“Sado, what happened?” Uryu asks, “Were you hurt in your capture?”

“No,” Sado shakes his head, “There was… tea and shogi.”

“Tea and… shogi?” Ichigo and Uryu repeat, confused.

“And someone was… complaining about waffles?” Sado says, just as equally confused.

“W-Waffles…?” Then it hits me. “Of course!”

“Kurosaki?” Uryu questions. I follow Ichigo with my eyes to where Urahara’s hat lies on the ground. It seems that he’s figured it out as well.

“Come out, Urahara. I know you’re there.” Ichigo calls out. The sound of clapping reaches us before we see Urahara, hatless, standing behind the Mod Souls.

“Ah… congrats, Ichigo-chan. You figured it out.” Urahara smiles at us. “When did you manage to do that?”

“The hat, just now.” Ichigo holds it up, dusting it off a little. “I mean, Urahara goes nowhere without this—how could you have gotten it from him so easily.”

“See, Ririn! I told you, you were over acting. You and Kurodo… such dramatic actors.” Urahara scolds her.

“He’s pretty sharp, despite all things.” Ririn giggles.

“Ignoring that back handed compliment… Now that I think about it,” Ichigo says, “There were many chances for you to finish us off. And yet, you didn’t. And you didn’t hurt Sado at all… or Inoue.”

“Of course we didn’t!” Ririn replies, “We played shogi. And ate all the waffles Hoshiko-san made yesterday.”

“I never even won once.” Sado grumbles behind us.

“Why did you do this, though?” Ichigo asks, “Push us into tight situations like this?”

“For training, of course!” Urahara waves around his fan, “It wouldn’t be very effective training if you all knew it was coming! …Can I have my hat?” Ichigo hands Urahara his hat and Urahara quickly puts it on, “Games cultivate the various senses, ne? The telephone game, why? All of that running which means your stamina improved. The museum game?”

“The museum was meant to… induce different ways of thinking—simply put, have us think outside the box.” Uryu added in. “The imposter game was for teamwork and trust.”

“And to see how you’d cope in an instant. And judgement.” Urahara added in, “In the end, it was all to strength your bonds as friends, much more than acquaintances with a similar goal.” I share a look with Uryu. “It also serves as a chance to look at yourselves. You could all really stand to take a long look at yourselves.”

“Look at… ourselves?” Ichigo repeats, “What do you mean?”

“Hoshiko-chan… you’re too battle ready—attacking Ririn without regard for consequences. What if this had been real? Tatsuki might have died if you hadn’t calmed yourself. Too emotional. Look at the way you lashed out at Uryu and again, at Ririn.” I frown, looking away.

It hurt to hear, but Urahara was right. I wasn’t exactly fulfilling the role I’d given myself by doing something like that, “Uryu, you’re too emotionless—you did not properly understand Hoshiko-chan’s feelings on the matter of her friend being taken and responded coldly when attacked, accusing her of being the imposter. Nor did you seem to rely on your friends much at all. Renji, you’re rather brash and were the cause of some strife in your own right. And sensitive to boot, as seen at dinner. Ichigo, you tried your best, but some of your attempts at leadership were overshadowed by your reckless behavior and inability to avoid a fight or consult others on the matter at hand. In the end, you were too focused on yourself and how you could solve the problem _by_ yourself.”

Ichigo huffs out, “That’s…”

“True.” Uryu nods, “What Urahara-san is saying about us is true.”

“Wait, but what about Chad?” Ichigo asks, “You didn’t say anything about him.”

“Well that’s because…” Urahara fans himself, “Sado-chan is the best out of all of you. You’re doing great, sweetie, don’t change a thing.”

“That’s not even fair!” We all yelp back at him.

“As I was saying,” Urahara coughs as if we didn’t say anything at all, “If you’re to be a proper team, you must understand each other outside of battle. You may not have been formed as a team under willing circumstances, like volunteering for the group, but the fact of the matter is that you four, and Renji, I guess, are now a team and you must cover each other. That will further your abilities to work under pressure. Aside from this,” Urahara continues, “Ichigo, you can’t use your Bankai, can you?”

We all look to Ichigo, who has a hard time admitting it. “Is this true? Then that would explain…” Renji trails.

“Ichigo, you are a substitute Shinigami, not a _real_ Shinigami...” Urahara says, “You may have been able to throw your Bankai about in the Soul Society, where things like that are more susceptible, but here, it’ll take some getting used to. You shouldn’t have recklessly thought ‘if things get tough, my Bankai is there for me’. Bankai is unreliable, it’s no wonder why you can’t use it.”

We’re silent for a while, with Ichigo looking as if he’s taking this the hardest. I’m sure we all had a lot to think about—the small insights that Urahara had given us now was only the tip of the ice burg. We would have to do something about this if we wanted to be a better team.

“Okay, this is great and all, but I don’t remember any of what’s happened.” I step up, breaking the silence. “I literally feel like I’ve lost a day of my life. What happened to me?”

“Oh, Hoshiko-chan!” Urahara says, as if he’d forgotten me, “I almost forgot about you! What do you know about the iron beams in the parking lot?”

“They’re only red after sunset.” I respond robotically. A flash flood of memories pour through me and I drop to my knees, alarming cries coming from the others.

“Ah… I should’ve eased into it.” Urahara grabs me, pulling me up. “Hoshiko-chan, I’m sorry. For this to work, I had to block your memories of the last few days. Are you alright?”

“Ah… I’ll be fine.” I tell him, letting go of him to stand kind of wobbly on my own. “Kiicha, what happened to the investigation?” I ask, the information coming back to me in overwhelming amounts.

“Investigation?” Renji repeats, tilting his head.

“Yeah,” Urahara nods, “Yoruichi and I were investigating something. I had Hoshiko-chan check it out to see if was anything worth our time. It was, and so I deployed Yoruichi to look out for it.”

“That explains why she was with Captain Sui-Feng earlier.” Renji puts a hand on his chin. “What did they find?”

“Oh, I dunno.” Urahara shrugs.

“What do you mean 'Oh, I dunno.'!” I yell at him, “You can’t just mention it and not have anything to add! Mr. 'I'm investigating things'!”

“Wah! Hoshiko-chan, you’re so mean!” Urahara whines, “I don’t know, so I don’t know! I’m sorry!”

“Are you lying because you think we’ll hate you again?” I ask him.

“I really don’t know, Hoshiko-chan! Believe me this time!” Urahara whines again, “All I know is the Soul Society temporarily cut off passage to it to investigate!”

“Could it be… something related to Aizen?” Sado speaks up. The realization of Aizen’s potential looming over us quiets us all to a still, as we wait for Urahara to speak.

“No, as I told Hoshiko-chan, who I’m sure told you all…” Urahara dips his hat, “He only took the Hōgyoku. And that won’t be ready for some time.”

“Aizen needs something like a year before it will be ready to be of use.” I tell them. Urahara nods, “This has nothing to do with Aizen. It doesn’t feel the same. Besides, I don’t think he goes around disintegrating people. Or using… lightning pentagrams.”

“He could.” Ichigo says, “We don’t know the specifics of his power.”

“Aizen’s new power might have that ability born from the Hōgyoku’s interference, but his Zanpakutō does not.” Urahara informs us, “But, don’t worry about him. He won’t be making a move for some time and anyway, in your current states, you’re all too weak. You’ve only cracked the surface of your powers.”

“This means there’s time before he moves.” Ichigo reiterates. “We have to get stronger if we’re gonna fight him.”

“You’re already making plans and I haven’t even asked what I was meant to.” Urahara frowns. “So ahead of the curve, you kids.”

“When we were in the Soul Society,” I begin, “The old man in the big seat asked us to help as well. He was… probably talking more to Kurosaki than the rest of us, but…”

“Nevertheless, we are all a team, so when Aizen comes around, we’ll face him together.” Sado finishes. He, more than anyone here, probably wanted to finish Aizen off himself. Much more than Ichigo, who was probably only going to do so for Rukia and Urahara.

“Ichigo, please.” Urahara looks Ichigo dead in the eye, “Learn to use your Bankai once more. Please… help me with the Aizen problem.”

“…Yeah.” Ichigo agrees. “You can count on m— _us_.” Ichigo looks to the rest of us.

Urahara breathes out a sigh of relief, “Oh! Thank goodness! I thought I’d have to resort to other methods!”

“I _really_ don’t wanna know what those other methods might entail…” Ichigo looks away. “I just… _oohh_ …” Ichigo shivers, obviously remembering something.

“Anyway! Continuing where we left off, Ichigo, you and Hoshiko-chan are alike!” Urahara continues, as if he hadn’t been begging for help. “You two let your opponents get the better of you. I ask Hoshiko-chan to use her head, but she gets so angry so quick and it always results in Tsubaki-kun cutting through my arm! And with Ichigo-chan, he's always swinging that darn large knife around, it's so hard to have a conversation with you. Do either of you use your head? Always with the slicing something in half.”

“I’m nothing like him!” I shout back, “I think about things! It’s always after consideration that I throw some punches. My decisions with you are just quick, cause most of the time you deserve it.”

“In the end,” Urahara says as if I hadn’t spoken, “Uryu, who lost all his powers, seems better at using his head. He remained calm, although, maybe a little too calm. It’s okay to get riled up, you know… Uryu-chan?”

“W-Wait… Urahara-san…” Uryu calls out weakly before the group of us are upon him.

“Lost…”

“His…”

“ _Powers_ …?”

“Uryu!” Ichigo and I shout. “Why didn’t you say anything?” Ichigo continues, “C’mon!”

“It… it never came up.” Uryu responds, pushing his pointer fingers together, looking anywhere but at us.

“N-Never came up?” I repeat, an edge in my tone, before I sigh loudly. “Uryu! We had plenty of chances to talk about this! When we were picking team names? During the school day _before_ that time? We had _lunch_ together! You even had before Renji and Kurosaki came over to see us! You could’ve said _something_! Even when I asked, you still kept it a secret!”

“That was irresponsible of you, Uryu.” Sado chops Uryu’s head, “What if you had gotten injured because we assumed you could protect yourself? That’s not like the Ishida Uryu I know.”

“Cape in the cleaners my ass!” Ichigo comments.

“Dude, you actually believed that?” Renji chuckles, “I didn’t believe him for a second!”

“Jeez, Uryu!” I reach up, pulling on his bang, “Next time, tell us something! We’re your friends, you know? We care about you!”

“Yeah, we have to look out for each other.” Ichigo chimes in, “Don’t keep us in the dark and we won’t keep you in the dark. Fighting as a team means… we all have something to bring to the table—and you brought something, yeah but… everybody needs to be on the same page and we can’t do that if you don’t tell us everything.”

Uryu watches us, stunned for a moment, before he nods mutely. “I… understand. I’ll tell you guys from now on… since we’re… friends.”

“Okay!” Urahara claps, “Let’s end on Ichigo’s friendship speech! How about we go upstairs and get something to eat, yes? Hoshiko-chan, Tessai-san is out, so what are you making?”

“I’ll have to see what he left out. Will you all stay for dinner?” I ask the group. “I’m sure whatever Tessai-san took out will be good.”

“I don’t want to impose…” Uryu pushes up his glasses, though Sado and Renji nods.

“I have to go get my body…” Ichigo frowns, rubbing the back of his head. “You were right, I probably shouldn’t have just… left it there. It’ll be a pain sneaking out of the morgue again…”

“Don’t worry, we thought of everything! We’ve retrieved it!” Ririn chimes in. “It’s upstairs!”

“U-Upstairs?” The group of us repeats.

“Oh, yes!” Urahara nods, “We’re just in the basement and everything was an illusion. Pretty fancy, huh? I know, over the top, but that’s my middle name! I had it legally changed!”

“Ignoring that, what about everyone? Tatsuki and our classmates? Where are they?” I pull on Urahara’s sleeve, “Tatsuki better be okay!”

“…Somewhere like a mountain.” Urahara shrugs, “I don’t know the specifics, but that’s where I sent Tessai. He’s the one who has gone to retrieve them.”

“A _mountain_?”

“You all sound upset…? I can’t imagine why. It’s a beautiful night out tonight!” Urahara defends. “They’ll be fine! Tessai is getting them!”

“Ah, Yoruichi is here.” I comment, watching the woman fall from the ceiling, landing in front of us. “Yoruichi, here for dinner?”

“I have something I want to tell you all.” Yoruichi says curtly. “…A _Bount_ has appeared.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kisuke Over The Top Urahara is his legal name. 
> 
> Well, this was a REALLY long chapter. School is almost over, so bear with me!! Check out the blog for some drawings of all these kiddos by Evzosart!
> 
> Next Time!:
> 
> “Uryu, you don’t have to give them up if you don’t want to. Let the freeloader eat his words instead of your food.”


	37. The Bount Arc: Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAH!!! Can y'all believe that this story has almost been out for a year ??? Time really flies, huh???? And we're only 3 arcs in!!! Should I do something for the Big One Year?
> 
> Also: Why is it that Hoshiko only seems to make Non-Japanese dishes whenever she’s cooking ??? girl u live in Nihon, act like it.
> 
> small bonding between kiddos

Despite Yoruichi mentioning the Bounts before we’d all gone upstairs, she doesn’t mention it again, keeping tight lipped until everyone is upstairs. Though, the moment we’re all standing in the hall, she and Urahara disappear into another room, mostly likely for Urahara to be updated first.

“So,” Ichigo looks between us, “What do we do?” I hear Jinta whine from his shared bedroom with Ururu—they’re probably getting hungry and it is pretty late.

“Well, you guys can either help me with dinner or you can sit in the main room and wait.” I offer, “I don’t know where the TV remote is, because Jinta probably broke it again and Tessai-san decided to hide the new one, so you’d have to search for it.” Sado nods, following Renji into the main room. I guess he really had no intention of helping me cook from the start. Ah, Sado. I love you, man, but sometimes...

“I guess I’ll take my chances with Renji and Chad.” Ichigo jerks his thumb towards where they’d gone off to, “Yuzu doesn’t like when I cook anyway. She says I don’t… season enough?” Ichigo shrugs, turning and heading into the main room. I look to Uryu, who still hasn’t said anything.

“I’ll help you, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu finally speaks, a small smile on his face. I grin back at him, sliding open the door and heading into the kitchen.

“Great!” I grab an apron, tossing another at Uryu, before moving to the sink to wash my hands, “Two people will make it go by faster.”

I don’t know if I was hesitant to be around Uryu or if I was eager to try and make it up to him. All I knew was that things might be a little tense between us, especially now that we’re all alone like this. I don’t want to make it awkward or tense, but I realized that in the way of things, I probably knew more about Sado and Ichigo combined than I did about Uryu. We all just needed a serious good old fashion ‘sit around an outdoor table at 12 AM deep discussion about our lives’ to get closer, in my opinion.

I move towards the fridge while Uryu washes his hands and see what Tessai-san had left out. There wasn’t much in the way of what he left out. Just some meat. I look at the note taped to the door of the fridge, well I guess Tessai-san knew he wasn’t going to be back in time for dinner, so he just decided to let me make something easy—probably because he knew we’d be exhausted.

Despite having no real visible injuries, the fact that I was so high on adrenaline and fear earlier and being able to just calm down like this, my body was way more tired than originally thought—that was also probably due to my memories pouring back in all at once too. But I was near exhausted. The only reason I was still standing was because I had people to feed, otherwise I would’ve dropped and had Urahara carry me to bed.

“I guess we’re doing burgers.” I inform Uryu, looking back at him. “Have you had American-styled burgers before? There’s a ton of fast food places around here, though.”

“No, I don’t believe so.” Uryu answers, “Though they’re pretty popular, I’ve never had the chance…”

Did Uryu really live such a sheltered life? Did his dad really not let him do anything? “We should go out for burgers then.” I tell him, pulling out the pack of ground beef.

That’s probably as close to sitting outside at 12 AM as we were gonna get right now. “Last time we all got the chance to hang out as a group, it was before Rukia left for real. Kurosaki fell on his face.” Uryu snorts, trying to cover up his laughter. “Oh, you can laugh. He screamed, I laughed. Right in his face.”

Uryu chuckles once more and I bring the meat over to the counter. He stands behind me, watching, “For your first real time having burgers, I gotta go all out.” I tell him, opening the pack, “You can’t just have regular burgers, you have to have… _special_ burgers.”

“What makes them special?” Uryu asks, his facial expression betraying how curious he was about it. Uryu was actually… kind of adorable when he looked curious and lost like that.

“Well, it all depends on what you put in them.” I tell him, “My d— _brother_ ,” I catch myself, coughing, “He, uh, used to put onions into our burgers to give them more flavor.” I go back towards the fridge, pulling out a few more things. “Can you chop this?” I hand him an onion, “The cutting board is underneath the knife set.”

Quietly, Uryu begins his task and only the sound of chopping is heard while I season the ground beef. I want to say something, but I’m unsure of what to say to Uryu. I mean, I had already apologized to him for now and he’s somewhat accepted it… What more could I say? I didn’t want to be pushy. Everybody moved at their own pace, so I couldn’t force Uryu to try and move at mine. “I’ve finished.” Uryu says, “What do I do with this?”

“Just dump ‘em in the bowl.” I tell him, moving my hands a little. “After I finish this, then we’ll make the patties and I think I wanna fry them.”

Uryu isn’t the best cook—nor is he the best at chopping onions. I know this because the pieces of onion that he’s chopped up are large and weirdly shaped. “Uryu,” I stop him from pouring the onions into the bowl. “Did you _peel_ the onion?”

“You’re… supposed to do that?” He asks, unsure of himself. 

“God, you must be, like, _loaded_.” I sigh out, taking the bowl. “Do you make your own meals?”

“We have… a housekeeper.” Uryu seems embarrassed to admit. He rubs the back of his neck, his ears are tinged pink and there’s a dusting of the same color across his cheeks. I snicker, patting him on the shoulder. Yeah, I had some pretty cute friends.

“It’s okay. Not everyone’s good at cooking. Or at anything, like Kurosaki.” I tell him, “I mean, you’ve got other practical skills. I’ll teach you how to chop an onion correctly.” I lay the pieces of the onion back out onto the cutting board and grab the knife, “So, why did you decide to start, like, sewing and designing clothing and stuff? With the way you show yourself to others, nobody’d guess.”

“My… mother.” Uryu’s tone is clipped as he watches me. “She used to sew often and I would watch her. Eventually, she taught me, but…” He trails, clearing his throat, “Anyway, Hoshiko-san. I’m willing to learn to chop an onion correctly.”

“Alright, this is how you do it.” I spin the knife in my grasp and bring it down onto the board, slicing up the onion thinner, “The goal is to make it into as tiny pieces as possible. Nobody wants to taste a whole onion.” Uryu nods, looking as if he’s taking mental notes. “And then you just… put them in the ground beef and mix it up.” I move it around until it’s all nice and mixed, “Then you make the patties.”

“You’re really an expert.” Uryu breathes out, “This is an admirable skill, Hoshiko-san.”

“Aw, it’s nothin’.” I wave my hand, looking away. God! I hated genuine compliments. “C’mon, you can do this part too. You said you’d help but it seems like I’m doing all the work! Get over here!”

“Very well.” Uryu replies, though I see the slightest hint of a smile on his face. We were making progress, good.

* * *

After a somewhat uneventful cooking of the burgers, dinner is ready by the time Urahara and Yoruichi return from their secret meeting—or maybe Jinta’s screaming about how dinner was _finally_ ready and how I shouldn’t invite people who don’t know how to cook to help out with dinner. That earned him a smack. Jinta pulls out the longer table while Ururu gathers the plates to set the table. “Hey, Shokkaku-san.” Jinta looks to Renji, “You should set the table.”

“No, it’s okay,” Ururu comments, “After all, the freeloader was hard at work today. Even I can do this much.” Renji doesn’t know what to say or do at this point and instead, watches Ururu set the table.  I then place the burgers in the middle of the table and Urahara claps.

“Oh, Hoshiko-chan! It’s been so long since we’ve had your cooking!” Urahara coos, pressing a hand to his cheek. I roll my eyes—it had been a long time since I’d had the chance to help with dinner. Back when we were recovering, Tessai-san basically forbid me from helping him, so it was kind of… nice that they missed my cooking. The group of us say the prayer before everyone begins reaching for the food. “So good! As always, Hoshiko-chan!”

“Uryu helped too,” I tell him, “Some of the praise goes to him.”

“I didn’t do much.” Uryu pushes up his glasses, “Without your help, I wouldn’t have been able to prepare this.”

“How do you… eat this?” Renji asks, picking up a burger. “What is this?”

“Hamburger.” Ichigo supplies, reaching for one as well. “Hold you it with your hands… and you bite, dumbass.”

Renji glares at him, “We don’t have food like this in the Seireitei! Nor those ‘pizza’ things Rukia keeps ranting and raving about. These modern foods probably aren’t even that good.”

“You won’t know until you try.” Sado chimes in. I watch Renji closely over my own burger as he bites into it. He pauses for a moment, and I raise an eyebrow.

“Do you not like it, Renji?” I ask him, “I didn’t make anything else, so it’s either this or you scavenge.”

“It’s… good.” Renji quietly says, “I guess these modern foods aren’t so bad…”

“Any food should be good to you, Shokkaku-san.” Jinta chimes in, slapping Renji’s back.

“Hoshiko-chan, did you make dessert?” Yoruichi asks, “It’s been a while since I’ve had your desserts. I’m looking forward to something like those cookies you made.”

“Ah, no,” I shake my head, “Tessai-san said that Kiicha is on a diet, so nobody can have anything sweet because he’ll whine until you give it to him.”

“Kiicha…?” Ichigo repeats. Jinta points at Urahara, who’s lip has begun to quiver.

“I don’t need a diet! I’m _way_ older than that doctor!” Urahara waves his hand around, whining loudly. “Tessai doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”

“The doctor said you had high cholesterol and now because of you, we can’t enjoy the things we like.” Ururu says, “This makes you a horrible person. How are we supposed to follow your example when you’re like this?”

“Kiicha, you’re setting a bad example for us. Who knows, we might become freeloaders.” I add onto Ururu’s words. Jinta and Ururu nod along while Urahara lets out a large whine. “I mean, look, Ururu is already speaking out.”

“Anything but _that_! The Soul Society already put one on me, I don’t need three more! Not to mention Yoruichi doesn’t do anything any time she comes here!” Urahara dramatically waves his fan around, “Kiicha can’t handle five freeloaders!”

“That’s a _you_ problem.” Jinta shrugs, “Maybe I won’t do my chores.” He shoves a couple of fries into his mouth.

“Maybe I won’t show up for work.” I loudly slurp my drink.

“Maybe I won’t sweep th—”

“Okay! Okay!” Urahara waves his hand again, “Fine, I’ll do better! Jeez, don’t say stuff like that, I almost had a heart attack.”

“That could’ve been your high cholesterol.” I suggest, “Maybe you should’ve had some Cheerios for dinner instead of this lovely meal.”

“I don’t want Cheerios!” Urahara whines once more. I chuckle, he was almost like a little kid. A perverted little kid. “Hoshiko-chan, why are you being so mean? Showing off to your friends?”

“Eat your food so we can have this conversation about the Bounts.” I tell him, “That’s what everybody is waiting for.”

“Is it always like this here?” Ichigo asks, looking around, “I thought only my family was like that.”

“This is fun, though.” Sado replies. It’s then that I realize Sado, like me, lives alone. I needed to invite him to dinner more often from now on. Maybe even Uryu.

“Oi, glasses, are you gonna eat those fries? If not, give them to a novice freeloader like me.” Jinta looks to Uryu. Uryu pushes his plate of fries over to Jinta.

“Uryu, you don’t have to give them up if you don’t want to. Let the freeloader eat his words instead of your food.” I nudge him. Uryu, still unsure of what to do only looks down at his plate, “Jinta, don’t steal fries!”

“ _Novice_ freeloader.” Jinta corrects. “He wasn’t gonna eat them anyway! Pretty boy’s too good for fries! He might be worried about his… _complexion_.” Jinta slides the back of his hand down his face.

“Enough with the freeloader stuff!” Renji snaps, glaring at Jinta.

“Jinta, you angered Shokkaku-san. That’s mean, apologize.” Yoruichi chimes in, smacking him on the back of the head. “Jeez, none of you seem to have manners.”

“My apologies don’t come cheap,” Jinta replies, “You’d sooner get spiky hair to say that chocolate chunk thing again than you would me to apologize to someone.”

“What’s this about a chocolate chunk?” Yoruichi turns to Ichigo, “Sounds familiar.”

“It’s nothing!” Ichigo yelps, looking away.

“Kiicha, are you alright?” I wave my hand in front of his face, “You’re… gripping that cup pretty hard.”

“I’m fine, Hoshiko-chan.” Urahara grits out. “Everyone, eat faster so that we can discuss the coming threat.” At Urahara’s words, the idle conversation we’d been having was cut short and everyone ate in near silence, though the room was rather tense, mostly from Urahara’s heated gaze in Ichigo’s direction.

I trade glances with Uryu and Sado, neither of the two seem to know what happened between Ichigo and Urahara, but Jinta seems to think it’s hilarious—even Ururu is smiling every time Jinta chuckles.

It’s not long before we’re all finished eating and Jinta and Ururu take it upon themselves to clear the table. We all sit around the table now, with the Mod Souls having come back from wherever they had been in order to hear the explanation. “So, before we begin with Yoruichi, let’s start with Hoshiko-chan. She investigated first.” Urahara waves his fan.

“You investigated?” Renji looks to me, wide-eyed, “When?”

“When y’all thought I was kidnapped—of course, Urahara blocked it from my memory, so I didn’t remember until a little while ago,” I explain, “But, that night that you all came to my house to ‘save’ me, Kiicha had me go out to look into something.”

“And what was that something?”

“Well, if you’d give me 2.5, I’d tell you,” I look pointedly at Renji, “So, Kiicha has me go to an abandoned building, right?” I launch into recounting the tale of my first encounter with the Bount, telling them about the pile of dust I’d found as well as the man and his strange attack. I don’t leave out many details—aside from that weird thing about my eyes and when I finish, I look at the group, “…So, that’s what happened.”

“I’m so proud of my Hoshiko-chan! She did so well!” Urahara cheers. “Much better than anything Ichigo could have done, I’m sure.” Ichigo grunts, glaring in Urahara’s direction, though he doesn’t seem to notice.

“The Bount I faced off against didn’t use any power,” Yoruichi strokes her chin, picking up. “Though they may all have different abilities, who knows. After Hoshiko had confirmed that there was something going on, I called upon Sui-Feng to help investigate it. The Soul Society had also started their investigation, which lead to the closing of the gates, meaning you couldn’t contact them.” She looks at Renji. “After my own encounter with this phenomenon and the strange residue it left behind, I was able to correctly label them as ‘Bounts’.”

“What is a Bount?” Sado asks, “And what do they do?”

“And what’s this residue you mentioned?” Uryu adds on.

“I can answer that.” Urahara chimes in, “A Bount is, well, in layman’s terms, something like a vampire. …Back when I was in the department of R & D in the Soul Society, there was only one time before I had seen this residue, and it was then. It’s a special type of reishi that reacts with special components of human souls. When I researched it, what came up was the ‘Bount’. To explain more in depth as to what a Bount is, they’re a special tribe of humans—similar to Quincy in that they have special powers but are distinctly human. However, there’s a big difference,”

“And that would be?” Ichigo tilts his head, leaning forward.

“Well, Bounts live for a much, much longer time than humans. They devour human souls and it allows them to live, making them, like I said, very much like the vampires you hear about on TV.” Urahara concludes.

“However,” Yoruichi picks up where he left off, “From prior knowledge, Bounts as a species only go after souls that are going to be Konso’d. There isn’t much problem with this, in the way that sometimes souls get eaten by hollow, this is just something we account for. But, these Bounts—like the one I encountered and the one Hoshiko encountered—steal from people who are still _living_.”

The room goes quiet with the realization, though Sado speaks first, “So… these people—the ones they take souls from, what happens to them?”

“Same as when they get eaten by a hollow.” Urahara answers, “They’re just gone. They go outside any realm of existence.”

“These Bounts might be a subspecies of Bounts, seeing as all the information we have from the past says they’ve never devoured from living humans. It’s… _tough_ to say why they are doing this or what their goals are.” Yoruichi huffs out, crossing her arms.

“Tough indeed.” Urahara crosses his arms.

“Yeah,” I agree, doing the same.

The Bounts weren’t so much an enigma to me—though my memory was still a little fuzzy from Urahara blocking it. He didn’t seem like he knew about my future knowledge, I could only assume that my memory regarding this was wonky because I hadn’t watched this particular part in a long time and because I was still recovering from him blocking my memory. And from the fact that the longer I stayed, the more future memory I lost.

I couldn’t tell you the specifics of this whole thing in particular, but I could tell you that Uryu was a key player in it, that much I knew. “Why are you guys just… sitting here crossing your arms?” Ichigo slaps my arm, “We could be out there, helping people!”

“I can help you to a knuckle sandwich if you wanna try hitting me again, Kurosaki.” I crack my knuckles.

“Oh, Ichigo-chan!” Urahara waves his fan, his tone becoming something like love struck, “This one, so full of justice. One day, you’ll be somebody’s knight in black clothing!”

“Where would we start the search anyway?” Renji picks at his ear, “We don’t even know how to sense them—if we did, I’m sure we could’ve found out about this a little sooner.”

“Well, Kurosaki wouldn’t have been able to sense them anyway. Among his talents are his shit ability at sensing and controlling his reiatsu.” I add in, “So how would we start the search? If we can’t sense it, then Kurosaki definitely can’t.”

“I don’t need that from _you_! At least I don’t try to start fights with everyone!” Ichigo yells back.

“Yes you do.” Sado, Uryu and I chorus. “Our whole time in the Soul Society was you fighting everybody you came across.” Sado tilts his head. Ichigo sputters, blushing hotly and crossing his arms.

“Comedy routine aside, yes, Bount are hard to detect by normal standards—even Yoruichi and I have trouble telling the difference between a Bount and a regular human. They’re different from regular humans, but still very much feel like them, that’s why they’re hard to spot.” Urahara agrees, “Luckily, I’ve thought of that too! Aren’t you guys so happy I’m on your team? Ah… I’m so great.”

“Enough of the self-praise, Kiicha, what did you do?” I deadpan. “How did your wonder inventions make our lives ten times easier?”

“The Mod Souls, of course!” Urahara gestures to them, “With them on your side, you’ll be able to find these Bount, no problem. They have reishi sensor functions, which will pinpoint a Bount for you all. Sado, Hoshiko-chan and Ichigo will be forming a team and the Mod Souls will act as support for them. Ririn, you’ll be with Ichigo. Hoshiko-chan gets Kurodo and Sado gets Noba, good?”

“Yes, this sounds like a plan, but…” Uryu points to himself, “What about me?”

“Well, Uryu, you don’t have your powers, so…” I turn to him, frowning slightly, “I’m guessing that’s why he only made three.”

“Ah…” Uryu looks down, “That… that makes sense.”

“Don’t worry, Uryu.” Ichigo pats his back, “We can share mine. After all, I don’t want her all that much anyway. The one with the annoying laugh. I’d rather have the weird mustache guy.”

“Who said I wanted you anyway, y-you… you orange beanpole!” Ririn spits out, crossing her arms.

“Orange beanpole?” Ichigo repeats, “You’re one to talk, shorty! I’d say I’d fight you, but I don’t condone child abuse, even one as shitty as yourself.” Ririn sputters as I turn to look at Kurodo. “Your insults are nothing compared to what has already been hurled at me by that one, so you’ll have to do better!”

“Kiicha, can I trade? I don’t like how he looks.” I raise my hand, “He reminds me of mini-mustache from the Soul Society.” Next to me, Sado and Uryu chuckle, looking away.

“Hoshiko-san,” Kurodo suavely makes his way over to my side, “I don’t have to stay in this body if it displeases you.”

“I just think you as a person displeases me.” I tell him honestly, “So no matter what you do, I don’t think I’ll like you.”

“What heartbreak!” Kurodo throws a hand over his forehead, “My liege… hates me! How painful! My heart, she breaks!”

“Okay, enough of all the arguing and the hate.” Urahara waves his fan, “Nobody is trading anybody. I picked them specifically for you all—Ririn’s with Ichigo, Kurodo is with Hoshiko-chan and Noba is with Sado. And I want them all hiding in stuffed animals. It’s easier for transport purposes.”

“Ah,” I stand, stretching, “I guess it can’t be helped then. Fine, I’ll keep him.”

“It’s getting late, we should probably go so that we can walk Uryu home.” Ichigo stands as well. “Thanks for the meal.”

“You guys don’t have to walk me home…” Uryu quickly protests, “I don’t have my powers, not my ability to walk.”

“It’s okay!” I tell him, smacking him on the back, “Besides, I’d love to see _casa de Ishida_ anyway. I bet his house is fancy!”

* * *

After another twenty minutes go by, the four of us finally leave the shop, heading towards Uryu’s house. It took a lot of convincing on our part to let us do this for him and Uryu still doesn’t look like he wants us to come over. I can’t imagine why, though. He looks rather nervous as we take the unfamiliar paths towards his house. Uryu lives much farther out than I thought he did. “Are we almost there?” I ask him, frowning, “Ugh, this feels like the walk to Kūkaku’s all over again.”

“The only difference is it’s nighttime and we don’t have anybody to rescue.” Sado comments, “You live so far from the rest of us, Uryu. Ichigo and I live in Minamikawase and Hoshiko lives just across the river in Sakurabashi.”

“You sure as hell live close to the school.” I shake my head, “I could never. Living near that place would make me sick, yuck.

Uryu finally speaks up. “My house is just down this road, so thank you for walking me this far…”

“Well, let’s get going.” Ichigo continues walking down the street. Sado and I follow after him while Uryu stutters out protest. “We said we’d walk you to your house, not your street.”

“C’mon, Uryu! Friends visit their friends’ houses!” I smack him on the shoulder. “Now which one is yours?” In the middle of the street, Uryu stops, standing in front of gargantuan house. “Woah. I kinda knew it was gonna be fancy, but this is…”

Uryu’s house looks like something out of a storybook—it was a large and elegant old European-styled mansion, making me wonder why he even lived here when it was just him and his father—the house was much too large for only two people. Maybe it was something like a family heirloom?

“Your house is large.” Sado points out. “It’s much more than fancy.”

“It makes _my_ house look like the elder’s shack back in Rukongai.” Ichigo comments, “Why didn’t you want us to come here anyway? Afraid we’d be intimidated by your money? We knew you were rich before this, Uryu,”

“No, it’s not that… I jus-!”

“Young Master Uryu!” A feminine voice calls, opening the gate, “Oh! I was so worried! Er, what’s the word? You’ve been? Where is it!” The woman barrels into Uryu, wrapping her arms around him. When she pulls away, her blonde hair is pretty much the only thing I see.

“‘Where have you been’, Tristian-san. That’s what you’re looking for.” Uryu corrects her slowly and softly. “Er, thanks for walking me home, guys.”

“Oh! Excuse my… my manners?” She questions, tilting her head, “I am… Tristian! Maid! You must be… Young Master Uryu’s… classmates?” She bows to us very lowly.

“Classmates, friends.” I wave my hand, “I’m Hoshiko. This is Kurosaki and Sado.” I stick my hand out for her to shake. She stares at it before shaking it, smiling. “Uryu, this is your housekeeper?”

Uryu nods, blushing, “This is Tristian-san. She’s… she’s from overseas.”

“Is this why you didn’t want us to come over?” I question him, grinning, “Didn’t want us to see your pretty housekeeper? Wanted to keep her all to yourself? I can see why, Sado would totally have her under his thumb.” I smile at Tristian, but she seems none the wiser about what I’ve said. I wonder what her original language was, before she came here.

Uryu rubs the back of his head, blushing and not making direct eye contact. “N-No, that’s no—”

“Ryūken-sama!” Tristian yells, effectively cutting us all off, “Young Master Uryu has returned!”

A white-haired man makes an appearance at the gate, staring us all down. He bears a close resemblance to Uryu, making it impossible to deny that they’re related. I was surprised though, I don’t think Inoue or the others ever met Uryu’s father in canon directly. From what I remember, Ichigo and Uryu’s dads knew each other from the past, something to do with Ichigo’s mom, I think.

“Ah, Uryu.” The way Ryūken says Uryu’s name sounds kind of cold, like he was almost disgusted to say it. He stares at us for a moment.

“Good evening, Ishida-san.” The three of us chorus. Ryūken only hums, nodding at us minutely. He crosses his arms and continues to stare. Covering the air around us is silence as he sizes us up. This is rather nerve-wracking, to say the least. Being scrutinized under a parent’s gaze wasn’t at all fun.

“Ahem, well.” Ichigo decides to speak up, “Uryu, we’ll… see you tomorrow at school then.”

“It was nice meeting you, Ishida-san, and you Tristian-san.” I say, waving at the two. Sado gives a firm nod and the three of us take off down the street, leaving Uryu and his… stern looking dad behind.

“Well,” I speak up, looking between Ichigo and Sado, “That was… intense.”

“I’d rather fight Kenpachi again than sit through Uryu’s dad’s stare again.” Ichigo shivers, “He feels like Urahara.”

“I think he was kind of rude.” Sado comments, “He didn’t even introduce himself—all he said was ‘Ah, Uryu’. And it almost seemed like he didn’t want to see him.”

“I dunno,” I shrug, “I don’t wanna say too much, but I don’t think they really like each other. But not in the way that I don’t sometimes like Kiicha.”

“Or my dad.” Ichigo adds in, “He’s annoying sometimes and I dislike that, but I don’t… hate him. Uryu and his dad don’t seem to actually care for each other much.”

“Maybe he’s just one of those types that do tough love or something.” I look at them. We’re all silent for a while, walking until we reach a part of town that’s familiar to us. “Ah, I’d better split now though, I walk any farther and I’ll miss my turn. See you guys tomorrow.”

Sado and Ichigo chorus goodbyes as I turn off down another street and head home. I was grateful for the time alone, it gave me a moment to myself to think. This whole Bount thing, I wondered how it would turn out. For the most part, it seemed to be going according to plan—though my run in with a Bount that never appeared in normal canon made me… kind of uneasy.

No matter what I did, things would still change, but the vagueness of what I recalled—because like I said, I’m sure my past self probably skimmed this whole thing—Uryu was important to this whole plot.

Would it be best to not get him involved at all? But, how could I not? Uryu was still a part of our team and I didn’t want to leave anybody out. Still… “Augh!” I mess up my hair, frowning, “This is so hard!”

“Don’t think about it too much.” Lily appears in front of me. Ayame and the others appear moments afterwards, “Like we said before, take it day by day. You can’t plan ahead for everything, Hoshiko.”

“I know, but…” I frown, running a hand through my hair, further messing it up, “I just don’t want anybody getting hurt.”

“No matter what you do, someone might get hurt, Hoshiko.” Baigon’s calm voice says, “It’s just a matter of what you do to prevent that—or what you do after it’s already happened.”

“You’re different from Inoue,” Tsubaki chimes in, “As we’ve discussed, things will never be exactly the same. You must continue to carve your own path.”

“Wow, ‘Baki.” I look at him, “Some sage advice. I think you’ve been watching too much late-night TV.” Tsubaki sputters, flying toward me to flick my forehead. I move at the last second, grinning, “But, you’re right, I guess. I don’t know exactly what happens here, but I’ll do my best to prevent the worst from happening.”

“That’s our girl! Now, was it just me, or was Uryu’s dad kind of… cute?” Lily blushes, squealing wordlessly.

“How about we leave it on that note and never speak of Uryu’s dad’s attractiveness ever again?” Hinagiku suggests. “All in favor, say ‘aye’.”

“Aye.” Tsubaki, Baigon, Shun’o and I chorus, raising our hands.

“Wh-What? Hoshiko, I thought you’d be on our side!” Lily sputters, staring incredulously.

“Er, yeah, sorry, no.” I rub the back of my head, “I prefer blondes… and people who don’t stare at me with an intensity to burn a hole in the sun. But enough about that, I’m really tired, so let’s go home so I can sleep! My bed, I’ve missed him all day!” With that said, the fairies return to the hairpins and I make my way home, fully exhausted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO WE MEET HIM, HUH??? How was he? however minute we did speak with him lmao
> 
> **NEXT TIME** :
> 
> Sado nods, “I guess it’s you and me—just like training.”
> 
> “Just like training.” I repeat, grinning. “…Sans the flaming knives and… bossy cat.”


	38. The Bount Arc: Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A good portion of this chapter would Not Pass the Bechdel Test only for the reason that Hoshiko wants to know everybody’s opinion on everyone remotely hot in the Bleach Universe, even though they’re involved in supernatural business.

When I get home, I go through my nightly routine—y’know, shower, change into different clothes, all that jazz—and sit in my living room.

My first order of business before I could lay down and sleep for eternity was to find Kurodo a suitable body replacement. I stare at the small orb on my small table with a frown. I didn’t have many stuffed animals. I wasn’t much of one for them, so there weren’t many around.

And though Enraku, who sat near Sora’s photo, was an option, it wasn’t one I was readily about to give in to. Enraku was… special to me, weirdly enough, so I didn’t want Kurodo yucking up his body. The doorbell rings and I stand. It was getting kind of late, who could be coming to see me at this hour?

Jinta stands in front of the door, frowning. “Jin-chan.” I greet him, tilting my head. “What’s up?”

“Here.” Jinta holds out a plastic bag. “Oyabun said you might not have something to put that pervert mustache in, so he sent me over here with this.” I pull the item out of the bag, staring at it. “…that thing looks fuckin’ ugly.”

“You’re tellin’ me.” I stare at it a moment longer, “I hate it, but so will he and I think that’s the only reason I’m seriously considering this.” Jinta hums, watching me. “Did you wanna come in? I can make a snack or something.”

“I wish.” Jinta shakes his head. “I got early practice. Ururu was supposed to run this, but she ended up going to sleep right after we finished eating and stuff. And Shokkaku-san, well…” Jinta shakes his head, “Anyway, you’ve got work tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.” I nod at him. “I’ll see you then. Thanks for dropping this monstrosity off.” Jinta leaves just as I close the door, heading back into my house. Well, now I had this awful pink and red floppy-eared thing to put Kurodo into. I sit down at the table, grabbing the small orb and placing it inside the bag. “Hoi, Kurodo.”

Weirdly enough, the doll becomes animated within seconds and it’s kind of… _creepy_ , to say the least, this talking doll. Sure, I’ve seen Kon move and stuff, but at the time that I was around him, I had other things to worry about, so I didn’t really think anything of it. But now that I had a chance to actually look at a Mod Soul inside of a stuffed animal, it was… odd at best. I actually didn’t like it much at all. It was a little too creepy for me, but I had to stick with him. Urahara gave these to us for a reason.

“Hoshiko-san.” Kurodo’s deep voice says. “Thank you for finally putting me in something.” I pull the mirror I’d left on the table and show him. He stares for a moment before a grimace crosses his weird features. “Though, I’d wished you’d picked something less… well, _this_.”

“Ah, you’ll be fine.” I tell him, “Kiicha picked it out. And I can’t be bothered to change it for a pervert like you. Stop trying to look down my shirt, it’s not going to happen. Now that that’s over, I’m going to be— _ow_!”

“Not very ladylike, Hoshiko-san.” Kurodo clicks his tongue. “Saying such things.”

“You started it!” I yelp back, immediately sitting up. “You’re, like, the worst! I’d rather Kon than you!”

“Please? That two-bit Mod Soul? What can he do? _I’m_ the superior model!” Kurodo gestures to himself. “Like him, there’s only one thing making people pay attention to you—your body.”

“I’m… _pretty_ sure people don’t pay attention to Kon for his body. Well, unless he’s masquerading as Kurosaki, or so I’ve been told.” I scratch my cheek. “But who is going to listen to _you_ anyway? I can just as easily take your soul out of that thing and chuck you into a corner! How does that sound?”

“I’d like to see you try!” Kurodo yells back. He goes to move, but I grab him and toss him into the wall.

“Wanna see me try again?” I question him.

“Hoshiko, what are you doing?” Sado’s voice breaks me from glaring at Kurodo’s crumpled form.

“Sado?” I turn to fully face him, “Wh… How did you get in here?”

“You left the door unlocked.” Sado explains, “We heard noises, so we came to check if you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” I tell him, “Just… playing around with Kurodo. Since you’re here, do you want some-!” A loud pinging sound makes me stop in my tracks. On Sado’s shoulder, Noba has gone stiff. “Is something wrong?”

“A Bount.” Kurodo says, “…has appeared.”

“Well, let’s go!” I take the strap out of the bag and attach it to Kurodo, swinging him across my body. “C’mon, Sado!”

* * *

After leaving my house, the two of us begin running with directions from Kurodo. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when dealing with a Bount like this—after all, I’d encountered the one already, so I was a little prepared, but like I had said to Urahara a couple days ago, the Bounts’ abilities seemed to be something like a Shinigami’s shikai ability. Which meant that it all varied. They were similar to Quincy, yes, but as far as we knew about Quincy, they all used bow and arrow—it was their trade mark tool, well, up until the mess that was The Quincy Blood War.

But that was years off and right now, Uryu and his father were technically the only Quincy we’d have contact with for quite some time, lest something happen between now and then.

“Should we call Ichigo? Maybe Uryu?” Sado asks as we run, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Don’t call Uryu… I hate to say it, but he would only get in the way if a fight broke out.” I frown, “Our attention would be divided and we wouldn’t be able to fight well enough. And calling Kurosaki… well, if he got the same alert that we did, he’d show up to where we were eventually. Plus I don’t think he has a phone when he’s reaping souls.”

Sado nods, “I guess it’s you and me—just like training.”

“Just like training.” I repeat, grinning. “…Sans the flaming knives and… bossy cat.”

Kurodo leads us to an industrial park full of warehouses and the like, very similar to the one Sado and I were at a couple days ago—it might even be the same one. However, we don’t stop at the entrance, instead we continue inwards and towards a specific warehouse.

The doors are already open wide and we run in, skidding to a halt. A loud scream draws our attention to the wall that’s bathed in the lights coming from the moon and the street lamps. A man sits there, arm raised in fright as he cries.

“Mister!” I call out, cautiously stepping forward, “Are you alright? We’re here to help!”

The man doesn’t answer, but right before our eyes, he begins to… turn to dust. He screams louder as he does so and I abandon all caution, running towards him, hands raised. “Sōten Kesshun!” Ayame and Shun’o appear next to me, “I reject!”

But it’s too late, my healing shield forms around a pile of dust, doing absolutely nothing to it. Eyes wide, I back away slightly. “Wh-What? I _had_ him! What happened?”

“Hoshiko… there was nothing we could do. If there’s no soul,” Shun’o explains lightly, “There is nothing to heal. Hoshiko, you know everything living and existing has a soul. That man… he had remnants, but…”

“It wasn’t enough to… to save him.” I drop my arms, staring at the pile of dust. “Just like that Bount the other night.”

“So that was your doing, hm?” A deep voice chuckles, “Well, I knew Lilo was much too… battle happy to survive much longer out of hiding. But to be taken out by a teenaged _girl_ with only a bare minimum handle on her powers of all people? So sad. A terrible way to go, in my opinion.”

I turn around, pressing a hand to my hairpin. I see Sado’s arm forming slightly, the black symbiote warbling around his wrist as Kurodo speaks up, “Was this your doing… Bount!” The man stands up on the ledge opening of something akin to a window in the warehouse. He balances precariously on it, though his posture says that it is no problem to him.

“Ah, so you know of us?” The man questions, “I apologize for not making myself known earlier.” I can’t see him fully, but his gaze on us is unnerving, his eyes, I can see them clearly. A reddish color that seems to gleam in the moonlight. I shift a little closer to Sado. “I was simply finishing my meal and paying respects. It takes some time, you know? Paying respects. But I feel I owe them at least this much.”

I click my tongue, “That’s enough talking! I don’t care who you are! Tsubaki, Hinagiku! _Blitz_!” I throw out my hands. Tsubaki and Hinagiku appear before me, flying up to the man and narrowly missing. Tsubaki slices through the metal the man had been standing on before whirling around and coming back to my side while Hinagiku isn’t able to use his shield to stop the man from leaving. “Let’s go! He might get away!”

Sado snatches up Kon and Noba and we begin running once more, with Kurodo giving out more directions. We skid out of the warehouse and around corners of other warehouses, coming to an area that looks like a loading dock for trucks. There, amidst the fire and flames is Ichigo and a few other people.

“Santen Kesshun! I reject!” I call out, sliding in front of Ichigo to block what seems to be metal rods flying at Ichigo.

“I-Inoue!” Ichigo yelps out, surprised, falling backwards. “And Chad?”

“Hello.” Sado greets quietly. I drop the shield when the metal rods fall to the ground with light clanks. The area is dark when I finally take the chance to look around, almost as if there hadn’t been some type of fight going on. “That man…”

“You know him?” Ichigo asks us. I nod, taking the chance to look him over.

“ _Sōten Kesshun_ , I reject.” I hold my hands out, healing Ichigo. “We ran into him just a few minutes ago, actually. He made someone… well, he turned them to dust, that bastard.”

“Thanks, Inoue.” Ichigo clutches his fist, “If it weren’t for you and Rukia, I—”

“ _Nee-san_!” Kon’s loud scream cuts him off. He jumps from Sado to Ichigo and practically flies over to Rukia, “The never before explored great Kuchiki cliff… it’s all… mi— _Nee-san_!”

“What do you mean ‘great Kuchiki cliff’?” Rukia immediately slams her foot down onto Kon. Well, I guess I kind of take back what I said about Kurodo. Kon was just as bad, if not worse.

“Ru-Ki- _Ah_!” I yelp, running towards her and slamming into her. Rukia lets out a surprised yelp as we spin, immediately falling over. I can’t help it—Rukia was one of my best friends and she was back! Sure, it’d only been a couple of weeks since we last saw her, but I was still happy to see her.

“Hoshiko…” Rukia breathes out, surprise clear in her voice.

“Welcome back, Rukia!” I pull away, grinning wildly. “It’s been so long! I’ve missed you so much! I’ve had to deal with Kurosaki on my own! What a _nightmare_!”

“Hey! I’m not that bad! _You’re_ the messy one anyway!” Ichigo cuts in. He hauls me and Rukia up, frowning. “Rukia’s not caught up on the situation, so we need to catch her up. Besides, I don’t think those guys will be showing up again tonight. Hey, Ririn?”

“They’re out of our range.” Ririn answers, “I don’t know where they are.”

“Where should we go, then?” I ask, “I mean, it’s getting kind of late.” I pull out my phone, checking the time, “It’s past nine now.”

“We can go to my house.” Ichigo suggests, “Technically speaking, it’s the closest from here.”

“Oh, Rukia.” I look her over, “You’re wearing Uryu’s dress—it looks nice on you! …But maybe you shouldn’t have worn it. Kurosaki could get jealous of you wearing something made with another man’s love, you know!”

“I guess some things never change, huh?” Rukia sighs somewhat fondly, shaking her head.

“Inoue, shut up!” Ichigo pulls my cheeks, “You’re always saying ridiculous things!”

“Kurosaki, be nice to me! I’m trying to help you out!” I whine, slapping his hands away. “Besides, with your reactions, you aren’t making your case any better. This is like the bra thing all over again.”

“We don’t bring that up!” Ichigo retorts hotly. “Whatever, l-let’s just g-go!”

“The bra thing?” Rukia tilts her head, eyebrows raised and a fine line of amusement all across her face.

Ichigo doesn’t make eye contact as she stares pointedly at her. I can see the pinkish color of embarrassment climbing up his neck as he find something to look at that isn’t Rukia and Sado. Sado looks to me curiously as well and I remember that he wasn’t there for that. Oh, what a fun story to share with the class.

“Oh, yeah.” I snicker, shaking my head, “Long story, but I’ll tell you when we get to Kurosaki’s. Ah! It’s good to have you back, Rukia! Finally, someone I can make fun of Kurosaki with!” Despite himself, I can see Ichigo smile slightly and Sado looks a little happier as well.

It was good to be reunited.

Instead of going straight to Ichigo’s house, we stop off in the park for some much-needed drinks. Ichigo squats in the dirt with Ririn on his shoulder, a generic brand sports drink in his hand while Sado sits on the railing that blocks in the swings that Rukia and I sit on. Rukia has some insanely sugary drink in her hand while Sado and I went with regular soda.

We’re quiet for a long moment before I decide to speak up. “...As much as I’m happy to see you, why did you come back, Rukia? Did they let you on vacay? I mean, you probably used up all your vacation days already, but…”

“I wish.” Rukia chuckles, swinging slightly, “I’ve been assigned to Karakura once more to get rid of hollows. I’d rather be training more, but… I can’t disobey direct orders.”

I trade glances with Ichigo and Sado. We all knew that Renji had been assigned to Karakura and he’d mentioned nothing of heading back to the Soul Society while we had dinner earlier tonight. It didn’t even seem like he’d had any inkling that Rukia was coming.

Ichigo shrugs, “Ah, looks like we’re stuck with you and your bossy attitude once again. Great, just when I thought I only had to deal with one rude girl, here comes another.”

“Hey!” Rukia and I squawk. “ _You’re_ the rude one here, Kurosaki!” I shout at him, “Jeez, why do teenage boys aside from Sado have to be so mean? What did I do to you?”

“You _know_ what you’ve done.” Ichigo stares pointedly at me.

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about.” I cross my arms, “I’ve done _nothing_ to you.”

“You know!” Ichigo stands up, “You know what you did! In class!” I snicker, shaking my head. That wasn’t even my fault, though! I didn’t tell Ichigo to start straddling Renji, nor did I tell him to go around telling people I put candy in my bra. That was all _him_.

“As much as I’d like to know what Inoue-san did, I wanna know who _she_ is.” Ririn pipes up. “Who is she and why are you all so happy to see her?”

“What is that… ugly thing?” Rukia asks, her gaze hard as she stares at Ririn. “It’s… really _ugly_.”

“You don’t have to repeat it!” Ririn whines, covering her eyes, crying loudly. “I know it’s ugly!”

“Shut up, that whole thing is your fault anyway.” Ichigo rolls his eyes. “Ririn, this is Rukia. She’s a friend of ours and Rukia, Ririn. She’s providing us support.”

 “Support?” Rukia repeats.

“Yeah, Kiicha—er, _Urahara_ , gave us these Mod Souls so that we could watch out for those people we ran in to.” I swing my legs.

“…I don’t understand…” Rukia presses a hand to her chin.

“You’ll be sorry! Judging people by their appearance like that!” Ririn sniffles.

“Ririn, I think she meant the Bounts.” Kurodo chimes in from my side. Rukia nods, agreeing with him.

“Allies…? Or enemies?” Rukia says aloud, still looking puzzled.

“Ah, those guys, they’re hard to read. Usually they do not bother humans like this from what Urahara-san told us the other night, so why now?” Kurodo replies, “I dunno, I dunno… I just don’t know.” He waves his ears around.

“Wh… What… is this?” Rukia gets up from her swing, squatting next to me. “Who is this… adorable creature?”

“This is Kurodo.” I introduce, “He’s supporting me. And that’s Noba, supporting Sado.” I point at the two. Sado lifts Noba up, who greets Rukia wordlessly.

“But he’s… so… _cute_!” Rukia squeals, hugging Kurodo tightly. “He’s the cutest of the bunch!”

“You think _he’s_ cute?” Ichigo takes the words right from my mouth. “I think he looks like cruel and unusual punishment in the form of something that would terrify children at night.” He grabs Kon’s leg, smacking him down into the dirt before he can say anything.

“Urahara gave it to me.” I inform him with a shrug, “And I had nothing else, so he went there.”

“He looks like Chappy! How adorable! I want him!” Rukia squeals once more, “Hoshiko! Please let me have him!”

“Rukia, you know I wouldn’t deny you the simple pleasures of life.” I pat her head, “As much as I’d love to give him to you, I can’t. Who would support me then? But, you can hold him while we’re here together if you want.” I unhook the strap and allow Rukia to take Kurodo.

“Back to the topic,” Ichigo stands, stretching, downing the rest of his drink in a few short gulps and tossing it at the trash can. “We don’t know a lot about the Bounts, but they don’t seem to like us.”

“I think they’re enemies.” I step over the small fence boxing in the swings, “You don’t just do that to living people and expect it to be all peachy keen and strawberry sundae.”

“I agree.” Sado says, “After what happened to that man, I… they’re no allies of mine. Or even potential allies.”

“It’s getting rather late, if everybody’s ready, let’s go back to my house.” The four of us leave the park after that, headed towards Ichigo’s house.

* * *

“I know this is a late question,” I say as we stand in front of Ichigo’s house, “But… where’s your body?”

“Ah, it’s in the house.” Ichigo replies. “I’ll… go in through the window and you all knock on the door when I message you.” Ichigo doesn’t wait for us to say anything before he, Ririn and Kon disappear in a flash of shunpo.

“Rukia, we should get pizza tomorrow. To celebrate you coming back.” I tell her. “We’ll have to get Uryu too.”

“Ah, I almost forgot about him—where is he anyway?” Rukia tilts her head, “I assumed he’d be right there in the action with you all.”

“Well, that’s to say…” I rub the back of my head, “It’s kind of a long story too.” My phone beeps and I pull it out, reading the message. “Okay, let’s go knock on the door.” Sado stands in front of us, knocking heavily on the door. “Jeez, do you wanna unhinge the door, Sado?”

“I have insurance.”

“I’m just gonna let that slide. I won’t ask why or how.” I pat him on the arm just as the door opens. Yuzu stands there, dressed in her apron, probably having been cooking dinner.

“Oh! Sado-san! Hoshiko-san! And… er…yes.” Yuzu blanks, looking at Rukia. “Wh-What are you all doing here so late?”

“They’re here for me.” Ichigo’s somewhat irritated voice comes from inside. Yuzu moves back allowing us in and closes the door behind us.

“What’s all the commo…tion?” Ichigo’s dad makes his entrance and for the life of me, I’ll never understand how he manages to look goofy and so… attractive all at one time. There must be something in the water here. There has to be.

Because nobody should be even remotely attractive wearing the ugliest brand of reject Hawaiian print shirts everyday of their life. Ichigo’s dad stares at us, mouth agape while Ichigo looks more than annoyed with him.

“Yes! Hello!” Rukia booms loudly, her upper-class persona coming out in full force. “I am sorry to have disturbed your family on such an auspicious night! We merely wanted to, as a collective, come together in order to study for tomorrow’s test, as the young people may do!”

Behind his father, Ichigo smacks his forehead at Rukia’s word choice. It looked like all that I had taught her had gone to waste. “Sorry to intrude, Kurosaki-san.” I say politely. “It’s kind of late, but we were all together, and Kurosaki-kun said it was alright… I hope we aren’t interrupting anything!”

“Oh, no! Of course not!” Yuzu smiles, “Please make yourselves at home then! If you need anything, just ask!”

“Thanks, Yuzu-chan!” I grin back at her. “Kurosaki, where’s your room at?” Ichigo points up the stairs. “Well, we’ll be going, excuse us, then.”

“Wait!” Ichigo’s dad stops us. “I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Kurosaki Isshin. Call me Isshin-san, welcome to our home.”

“Leave them alone!” Ichigo yells at his dad, “Just go upstairs, guys.”

“Another question!” Isshin pulls Ichigo into a headlock, “Neither of you two would happen to be… my son’s _girlfriend_ , would you?”

“H-Heavens _no_!” Rukia laughs daintily, “We’re all merely friends.”

“Ah, Rukia, you don’t have to be so harsh. After all the trouble Kurosaki went through for you? You have history, you know?” I give her my best cat-like grin, to which she returns with a smile that would scare me had I not gotten acquainted with Unohana during our stay there.

“ _History_?” Isshin lets Ichigo go to grab my hands, “Hoshiko-chan, was it?” I nod, “Tell me, what of this _history_?”

“Oh, it’s a _great_ story, Isshin-san!” I chirp, “A tale of love lost and battles. Action-packed!”

“Oh, Hoshiko-chan, do tell me more!” Isshin says, “I never took my son as one— _OW_!”

“Stop harassing them!” Ichigo kicks his father into the next room, then turns to me, pinching my cheeks once more, “And you! Stop leading him on!”

“Kurosaki, stop! I’m sorry,” I stick out my tongue, “I can’t help it! It’s funny!”

“Just go upstairs. I’ll be up in a minute.” Ichigo sighs out with a roll of his eyes.

“Kurosaki, bring snacks!” I say to him as Sado leads the way up to Ichigo’s room.

“No! You ate not that long ago!” Ichigo protests, “I’m not bringing you snacks!”

“Ichigo, that’s no way to treat a beautiful guest! Don’t worry, Hoshiko-chan,” Isshin puffs out his chest, “I’ll bring you our best snacks, okay?”

“Thank you so much, Isshin-san.” I try my best smile, which has him nearly squealing. People like this were so easy to please.

“She ate not that long ago! Don’t bother us by trying to eavesdrop with snacks!” There’s a crashing sound after we’ve gone upstairs. I wonder how the neighbors dealt with this every night.

Rukia takes the lead once we’re up the stairs. While there aren’t many rooms, most of them aren’t marked, aside from Ichigo’s which has ‘15’ on the door. How creative. She opens the door, looking around. “This place hasn’t changed at all.” She comments fondly, sitting on the bed.

“So _this_ is where the magic happens.” I spin, looking around the room. Ichigo’s room is the typical set up. With a bed, a desk and a closet, though there isn’t much else. “I didn’t know Kurosaki skateboarded.”

“That’s a long board.” Sado corrects me, “And both he and I do so in our free time.”

“What free time? Not like we have much of that anymore.” I comment, flopping onto the bed, making myself comfortable. Sado hums quietly, walking over to the closet and digging inside.

“Excuse the intrusion.” He says lightly as he pulls out the futon and spreads it on the floor to sit down on. Well, looks like we’re all about making ourselves comfortable.

“Rukia, do you wanna lay down? Just an F.Y.I., I’m a cuddler, so…” Rukia shakes her head, but moves back further on the bed, her legs lightly coming to rest over mine. “So, Rukia.” I nudge her lightly, and she turns to look at me, “…Whaddya think of Kurosaki’s dad? You think he’s cute? This is an open question, you can answer too, Sado.”

“He doesn’t have the stern face of a man ready to protect that gives me shivers, but he is kind of funny.” Sado chimes in, “I wouldn’t, though, because I’ve known him for so long.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s usually something that stops most. That’s how I feel about Kiicha. Damn shame too. Okay, what about Rukia’s brother?”

“What--? Nii-sama is off limits!” Rukia crosses her arms in an X-shape. “We aren’t having the conversation!”

“Rukia, _c’mon_! You know that I know that you know that we _have_ to have this conversation!”

“I’d rather talk about Ichigo’s dad than my brother!” Rukia hysterically says. “That’s just… _eugh_!”

I pout, crossing my arms, “Fine, we’ll talk about Kurosaki’s dad, but we’re saving Byacchi for later. …What do you think of him, Rukia?”

“…ah… that is to say…” Rukia pushes her pointer fingers together, looking anywhere but at me and Sado. I shift slightly to view Sado who is laying rather comfortably on his side on the futon.

“Rukia, it’s just us. Who are we gonna tell?”

“Ichigo!” Rukia replies hotly, “I just… don’t wanna have this conversation either.”

“This is girl talk, Rukia. When we aren’t, y’know, eating everything in sight and saving the asses of Kurosaki and the others, we talk about boys and how cute they are. Now tell me about how you feel!”

Rukia moves to protest, but I hold up a finger, “If the next thing out your mouth is not your opinions on someone’s father then I’m gonna tickle you into submission.”

Rukia is silent for a long time before she sighs, “Well…” Rukia pushes her fingers together, “He’s not… _un_ attractive, per se…”

“Yeah?” I sit up, eyebrows raised, “You like that type? The burly type of guy? I mean, he ain’t bad at all. A solid 8, I’d say.”

“Well, he does have a nice figure… I do…” Rukia nearly mumbles. She looks up at me, eyes wide as she sees that I heard what she said. A smile slides across my face and Rukia blushes darkly. Oh, this was a good conversation. I hope Ichigo doesn’t come up soon at all.

“That’s surprising.” Sado responds from the floor, “I always thought Ichigo would be Rukia’s type. Rukia never struck me as the type to like men like that.”

“Honestly? Me too. You guys are like sun and moon. In this case, Kurosaki is more than likely the sun.” I agree with Sado, “I mean, the way y’all two are always together…”

“Ugh, gross. Don’t use your poetic metaphors on me.” Rukia shakes her head, sticking out her tongue. “Ichigo is _so_ totally not my type. I’ve lived with him for entirely too long. You know, he talks in his sleep. He says the weirdest things… and there’s a lot about Ichigo that I know that you guys just do not.”

“I see where you’re coming from. Kurosaki is entirely too prudish to be anybody’s type.” I shake my head, "Please don't share the inner workings of Kurosaki Ichigo with us, please. He's not my type."

“What are you guys even talking about? Types? Types of what?” Ichigo enters the room, sadly without a tray of food. I lay back down on the bed, “No, no, it’s fine. Make yourselves comfortable—no, I insist, you don’t even need to ask. Glad you found the futon, Chad. Thought I’d have to pull it out myself. The bed is all yours, Inoue. Don't feel shy on my account.”

“Oh, good.” I say, turning on my side to face Ichigo, who has taken up a seat in his desk chair backwards. He swivels it slightly, looking at us. “I thought I was intruding or something, thanks for clearing that up. But I was saying, I can’t stand those types of people who invite others to their house and don’t bring them the snacks they so pleasantly asked for.”

Ichigo rolls his eyes and Rukia speaks up, “So what do we do now? I mean, you’ve explained the bare minimum to me about these… Bounts, but…”

“Well, even though we have these Mod Souls to find them, we can continue looking out for them. If we catch one, we question them, that’s the plan for now.” Ichigo informs Rukia, “Like you said, bare minimum. We don’t know much more than what we’ve told you, just some history facts that aren’t good for anything but a comprehension test.”

“Even though interrogation is our overall plan right now,” I cut in, “…I don’t think they’re gonna wanna talk. Like the ones you dealt with and the one that Sado and I encountered, they didn’t stay long to talk at all. I doubt they’ll want us to know their plans.”

“This is true.” Sado adds in. “And from Hoshiko’s story the other day and seeing them today, it seems like they all have different powers, unique to themselves.”

“Still,” Ichigo rubs his chin, “The only real thing we can do is capture and question. Maybe we’ll get answers from a weaker one.”

“Rukia, does the Soul Society know anything? I know they sent you to deal with hollow, but they should know something about Bounts, right?” I nudge Rukia lightly. She looks down at her lap, shaking her head.

“No, unfortunately.” She responds, “I haven’t heard anything, but I do recall them having closed the gates a couple days ago. But they never told anybody why.”

“You know, that’s what R--!” Rukia’s phone begins blaring, cutting off whatever Ichigo was planning on saying.

“Hel—“

_“Rukia? You’re here? I just got a call from—where are you?”_ Renji’s loud voice booms over the phone. Rukia immediately pulls the phone away from her ear.

“I’m at… Ichigo’s?” Rukia responds, though I hear a question in her tone.

_“Stay. Right. There! I’m coming over!”_ Renji hangs up immediately and Rukia looks around the room.

“Renji is here?” Rukia asks us, confusion clear across her face. Ichigo, Sado and I trade looks—well, more of a grimace on Ichigo and my parts.

“Unfortunately.” Ichigo and I frown. “He’s been here since earlier this week,” Ichigo continues, “He’s not coming _here_ , is he?”

“Well…” Just then, there’s a loud crashing noise and multiple screams. “Oh my god.” The four of us practically dart out of the room and down the steps with me tumbling into Sado and the two of us practically flinging ourselves down the steps and into Rukia, though Ichigo manages to avoid the whole thing.

This puts us directly in a pile in front of the scene of the crime. Renji sits on top of Ichigo’s dad, rubbing his head while Isshin looks more than dazed and confused. Karin is half-standing at the table and Yuzu is still screaming, holding a soup ladle in front of her, as if it’d protect her. If I wasn’t in pain from falling down the steps, this would’ve been hilarious.

“Renji! What the hell?” Ichigo reacts, pushing him off of his dad and helping the man up. “And you broke the freakin’ window! Who is going to pay for that?”

“Not Renji’s freeloading ass.” I groan, pulling myself from the pile of limbs. “Hoi, hoi, Shokkaku-san, you really seem to like the Kurosaki men, huh?”

“Rukia? Rukia’s here, right?” Renji doesn’t even seem to notice, making a beeline for the girl and picking her up from where she lays halfway under Sado who hasn’t even made an attempt to move.

“Wh-Wh-Renji, stop shaking me!” Rukia nearly barks out, losing her dainty personality within seconds before she coughs, trying to reclaim it with a simple, “…please?”

“Ichigo…” Isshin stands up, rising almost like a tower of anger, “Is…. Is he your friend?”

“If friend is the term you wanna use, I’d use it loosely.” Ichigo responds, sighing, and it’s easy to tell he’s trying not to let his dad’s anger get the better of him. “Everyone, just go back upstairs, I have to clean this up.”

“This is your allowance, Ichigo!” Isshin points at him, his voice not raising to it’s usual humorous octave, one could easily tell his father was upset.

“I can help you, Kurosaki-chan!” I raise my hand. “And we could get some drinks while we’re at it.”

“No!” Ichigo barks, “I don’t want anyone breaking anything else and I know you just wanna eat! So all of you, go upstairs. Chad, can you watch them, please?”

Sado rises, nodding. He walks over to Rukia and Renji, separating them and grabbing both. “Hoshiko-chan, can you get the door?”

“Mmm.” I nod, walking in front of him to open the door that lead towards the stairs. The four of us go back upstairs and retake our positions on where we had been before, with the addition of Renji who sits on the floor, watching Kon boss around Ririn and the others.

“Renji, how long have you been here?” Rukia asks him. Renji looks up at the ceiling and then to me, shrugging.

“I think it’s been about a week or so.” I answer for him. “Shokkaku-san has been staying with Urahara and the others at the shop.”

“Sho…kkaku-san?” Rukia questions, “It’s been weeks and there’s so many developments. Like… where is Ishida?”

“Ah, Uryu lost his powers as a Quincy, so he didn’t get a Mod Soul for support.” I answer her, “Well, we have time now, I can go into specifics.” I tell Rukia everything that’s happened since the start of the new semester when Ichigo comes in, trying his hardest not to slam the door closed.

His face is red and it’s clear he’s angry, “Thanks for breaking the fucking window, _Renji_.” Ichigo spits out, slamming himself down onto the bed. I guess he’s so upset he doesn’t even realize both Rukia and I are on the bed and brings his feet up, leaning back against the wall, pretty much sitting up next to me.

“Hey! That’s not my fault!” Renji tries to poorly argue. “I… I couldn’t find the door!”

“Then whose fault was it?” Sado asks, “Because I didn’t sense a hollow making you jump through the window.”

Renji sputter, blushing hotly and trying to find a retort. “Tch, whatever! We’re all here for a reason! Did you guys learn anything from your battle? Urahara told me you guys went up against those bounts.”

“Why should I tell you anything, window-breaker?” Ichigo snaps, “Waltzing in here like it’s okay, you’re worse than Inoue. At least _she_ doesn’t break windows.”

“Hey, don’t drag me into this, I have nothing to do with breaking your window or breaking anything in particular!” I sit up, smacking Ichigo on the arm. “Go radiate anger elsewhere, you’re bringing bad vibes to the bed!”

“This is _my_ bed!” Ichigo counters, “I can bring bad vibes wherever I want cause this is _my_ room!”

“Oh, is that a threat? A challenge? You wanna go, Kurosaki?” I untangle myself from Rukia and sit up on my knees, “Cause we can rumble at any time.” Ichigo wasn’t going to be mad at me for something I didn’t even do. This wasn’t flying with me. I can hear Rukia’s weak protests and Sado’s even weaker, deadpan ones as Ichigo seems to think it over slightly.

“Fine then!” Ichigo yells over me, “Bring it!”

Before I can launch myself at Ichigo, Sado has picked him up and thrown him onto the futon he’d been laying on and claims the computer chair Ichigo had initially been sitting in. “Didn’t we just go through an exercise about teamwork?” Sado looks from me to Ichigo. “Apologize.”

“Don’t look at me.” I cross my arms, “I did nothing but be here because someone invited us over.” The look Sado gives me makes me frown, “Fine, Kurosaki, I’m sorry for instigating a fight…”

“Tch.” Ichigo crosses his arms, “I’m sorry…”

“For?” Sado pushes, “A good apology is one where the person knows what they’re apologizing for.”

Ichigo sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry… for yelling at you when you didn’t do anything, Inoue.”

“Hmph, apology accepted.” I uncross my arms, “Renji, you shouldn’t have come in through the window.”

“I didn’t know where the door was.” Renji shrugs nonchalantly.

“There’s _two_!” Ichigo nearly yells, “A front door _and_ a side door! The side door is to the left of the freakin’ window you crashed through!”

“Fine, I’m sorry for crashing through your window.” Renji sighs, “Let’s get back to business.” Ichigo still looks really upset by Renji’s nonchalance and I can’t help but feel some type of way as well, but we can’t do anything about it now.

“I find it odd.” Rukia continues the conversation, trying to get it back on track.

“Your preferences in men or…?” I mumble, only loud enough for Sado and Rukia to hear.

Rukia sputters, shaking her head. “H-H- _Hoshiko_! No! I meant this!” She gestures to herself, Ichigo and Renji.

“I’m not following? The fact that we’re all in the same room? I can’t believe it either.” Ichigo answers. Rukia sighs, shaking her head. “I honestly don’t want it to be true.”

“No! I mean… the fact that we three are even here.” Rukia responds, “The normal ratio is one Shinigami per 50,000 people. And Karakura doesn’t have that many, maybe 100,000 people or so, which would result in two Shinigami— _you_ , Ichigo and whomever is assigned to Karakura. Renji shouldn’t be here and neither should I. We’re higher ranked Shinigami. We need to think about why they did this.”

“Well, they’re always messing up something back there, it seems.” Ichigo runs a hand through his hair, “You guys’ bosses are kind of messy regardless. Though, maybe they’re already aware of the Bount problem and have sent you two in order to be informed by Urahara. It’s the only explanation, since Renji says they’ve had talks with Urahara.”

“They might have sent people we were already familiar with because they assume we work better together.” Sado chimes in, “It does make sense, but I don’t understand why they wouldn’t inform you all ahead of time. Renji knew nothing before coming here, he was just as clueless as we were.”

“And your fight with the Bount? How did it go?”

“Like Inoue said back at Urahara’s, they all seem to have different powers—like Shikai abilities. The man I fought used metal rods as snakes while the woman used fire. Inoue’s guy used lightning in the form of a pentagram and a knife.” Ichigo replies, crossing his arms, “And like we told Rukia earlier, our only plan was to capture them and question them since they won’t willingly participate. They just keep running away.”

“We have to find them soon.” I say, “Otherwise they’ll keep stealing souls and I can’t heal anyone… a normal human body without a soul cannot be saved.”

The room goes quiet for a while as we all mull over what we’ve said. Ichigo is the first to make a move. He stands up, running a hand through his hair. “As much fun as this was, it’s almost eleven and there’s really nothing else for us to talk about since there’s no new info. You guys have to walk back home and despite Inoue’s… I don’t want any of you going back so late because you all split up.”

“It’s nice of you to think about us, Kurosaki. I guess this was the man ready to protect you were referring to, huh, Sado? I think I’m starting to feel the chills.”  I shiver intentionally, trying to keep the laughter at bay.

“Don’t you steal my man, Hoshiko-chan.” Sado threatens me. ”I worked too hard for this.”

“You two…” Ichigo grumbles, shaking his head.

“Aw, then who am I supposed to have? We already know who Rukia is after!” I whine before laughing loudly, “Anyway, Rukia, where are you going? Staying here?” I slide off of the bed, stretching.

“Ah, um… I don’t think I should stay here tonight, it’d be rather hard to move around.” Rukia responds. She picks up Kurodo, holding him close to her and then looks at me, almost hesitant and expectant.

“Oh! Then stay at my house! We can have a sleepover!” I grab her hand, grinning, “It’ll be really fun! I’ll make food! Since Kurosaki won’t feed us.”

“Then… okay, I guess…” Rukia looks down, trying to hide her smile.

The group of us heads down the stairs with Ichigo following after us. He sees us at the door, waving us off before shutting it. The four of us walk in near silence until it’s time to split up, “See you tomorrow, hopefully at school!” I wave to Sado as he and Renji turn a different way.

“Seems like you’ve all been busy.” Rukia comments as we walk. “To be honest, I’d thought you’d all forget me.”

“Pssh, you thought that before too, didn’t you?” I nudge her, “It’s kind of hard to forget one of my best friends, you know?”

Rukia chuckles slightly, then stops in the middle of the street. “Hoshiko, I…”

“Rukia, you can’t stop there, the police bike around at night, they might hit you. I know they’ve hit me more than once. Especially the one guy, he doesn’t like to put the light on so he can catch you doing something you aren’t supposed to be.” I pull her along. “Whatever you have to say, just say it. It’s only me and you right now.”

“It’s nothing.” Rukia replies.

“…Alright…” I know it’s not ‘nothing’ but I won’t push her. She’ll say what she needs to when the time comes.

* * *

When we finally reach my house, Rukia is reluctant to let go of Kurodo, despite his protests. “Rukia.” I place my hand on her head, chuckling slightly, “Let him go, it’s your turn to bathe anyway. I put out some of my extra clothes for you in the bath.”

“Ah… okay.” Rukia stands up, letting Kurodo go, “I won’t be long. Thank you for preparing the bath.”

“Ain’t no thang, girl.” I wave my hand, “I’ll get started on some food—I know it’s late, but it’s been a long couple of hours, you’re probably starved.”

“Oh, no! You don’t have t—!” Rukia’s growling stomach stops her sentence almost immediately. I chuckle once more, shaking my head. “Er…”

“Seems like your body is more honest than anything. I’m hungry too, so don’t worry about it. Since Kurosaki denied me food.”

While Rukia heads into the bathroom, I go into the kitchen and begin trying to find something quick to make. I end up just reheating the convenience store bento I’d bought the other day, it was quick and Rukia seems absolutely fascinated by it, so it was a good choice.

“Don’t you think she’s hiding something?” Baigon, ever the conspiracist, decides to make an appearance. He sits on the counter as I take out the first bento box and put in the other.

“It’s probably nothing as serious as you think.” I shrug, “Rukia, she’s… kind of bad at expressing herself sometimes. She’s like Kurosaki like that.”

“Okay, but what if she knows.” Baigon offers up.

I stop, looking at him for a moment, “You think everybody knows.” I pat him on the head with the pad of my finger, “And _I_ think you’re overreacting. Besides, that would be the last thing they expect.”

There was no way that anybody knew the secret I was carrying. It was so outlandish, so… out of this world. And only Baigon seems to be worried about it at this point. I had been treating everything since my realization as ‘my own life’ sure, I occasionally referred back to ‘canon’ but I couldn’t change the fact that I was here, so I had to stick with it, as Tsubaki had told me.

I understood Baigon’s worry about it, but he was much more of a worrier than anyone else in the fairy group. And I really needed to stop allowing them free reign of everything. He’s watched one too many conspiracy theories they put on in the middle of the night. “It’s who I am now, who I was doesn’t matter anymore.” I tell him, “Nobody can question me and ask because if they don’t know that and I don’t know, what can they ask?”

“This is true, but…” Baigon looks down, “Be careful, okay? I… I’m still thinking about that Gin man as well. He’s coming any time.”

“I’ll be careful, Baigon, but that’s not for a long time. Urahara said. No go back to sleep unless you plan on helping me with these bento.” Immediately Baigon dematerializes and disappears.

Nearly a minute later, Rukia enters, a towel around her neck and the clothes I’d laid out on her. “This is really comfortable.” She looks down at the nightgown I’d given her.

“I aim for comfortability. It’s done. I hope you’re fine with convenience store bento.” I hold up one of the boxes.

“It’s just enough that you’re even feeding me.”

“Aw, don’t be like that! You know I’d always feed you.” I pick up the two boxes, carrying them into the living room. “I think I have water in the fridge, there might be some juice, but I dunno. I had to throw a lot out since I wasn’t here for a nearly a month and then I stayed the rest of break at Urahara’s.”

“Oh? You were at Urahara-san’s?” Rukia asks, blowing on her rice after we’ve said the prayer and I’ve turned on the TV just for background noise. “How come?”

“I was still experiencing delayed traumatic flashbacks or something.” I say as casually as I can, shrugging, “So they felt they needed to watch me. Plus I needed a ton more training.”

This isn’t really a casual conversation, but I didn’t want Rukia to get upset or feel guilty and blame herself. Because in the end, all the choices I made, were choices that only I made. Nobody helped me and nobody was there to stop me, so what I got into was my problem.

Rukia puts down her chopsticks. “Rukia, c’mon. It’s fine, I—“

“No!" Rukia snaps, looking over at me, “It’s not fine! Nothing about what happened there is fine! You got so badly hurt! Ichigo said you wouldn’t stop screaming! Look at that scar!” She pulls my arm, showing me the remnants of my fight with Mayuri and Yachiru’s horrible patch job. “Not to mention Uryu’s lost his powers and Sado and Ichigo were nearly killed by Aizen! All of you got hurt so badly… for my sake?” Rukia loosens her grip on my hand, “…Am I even worth that much effort?”

“Well, yeah.” I use my hand to hold hers, “To us, at least. I mean, if we didn’t care, why would we go? I mean, contrary to popular belief, I went because you’re my friend and I care about you and not to only keep Kurosaki and the boys in line. These were choices we made, Rukia. And none of us regret doing what we did. So, don’t cry, because I’ll start crying too.”

Rukia laughs through her sniffles, “I didn’t even notice I was crying.” She wipes her eyes, “I must look pretty weak right now, huh?”

“Like I’ve never cried in front of people. Earlier this week, I cried in front of the guys.” I tell her, “Don’t worry about it, like I said: we don’t regret it, so there’s nothing to feel sorry or guilty for. Just look towards the future.”

“You’re good at these pep talks.” Rukia sniffles once more.

“I like to say I’ve gotten better.” I smile, “Let’s eat, crying always makes me hungry.”

“I could eat a whole cow.” Rukia comments, turning back to her food.

“I’ll make one tomorrow night, okay?” I laugh, “For now, let’s just eat this and get to bed, since we have school tomorrow.”

“I never thought I’d be happy to hear those words.” Rukia replies, “I’ve missed going to school with you guys.”

“Luckily Renji doesn’t go there.” I shake my head, “The Shokkaku-san wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“Why do you call him that?”

“Oh, that’s a long story. Good thing we have time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rukia’s back!! Wooooo!!! And she had a Heart to Heart with Hoshiko. See, Ichigo ain’t the only one who can do those. Was Ichigo a teenager here? I hope so


	39. The Bount Arc: Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This arc is probably one of the longest arcs you’ll ever see, tbh. Filler Is Forever. My outline for this arc is INSANE.
> 
> But, on another note... 
> 
> W O W !!!!!
> 
> Can't believe it's already, like... almost a year since I started this. I won't lie, my motivation for this story did have it's ups and downs. And right now it's kind of down (since I'm like... hardly writing anything), but don't worry. I plan to see this through to the end. Just a little at a time, that's all.

The next morning greets me much sooner than I’d wanted to and I sit up, seeing Rukia moving around the room, putting on her uniform with an enthusiasm I’ll never have (and me wondering where she even got the uniform until I see that it’s a little baggy in some places and she has the skirt actually rolled up).

“Ruki…?” I rub my eyes, staring at her. She turns to me, grinning widely as she does so.

“It’s good that you’re up, Hoshiko!” Rukia cheerily informs me, “I thought I was going to have to wake you up myself! I know how heavy a sleeper you are.”

“I’m not _that_ bad…” I grumble, pushing the blankets away from me, “You seem happy.”

“I do love to learn, as the young people may do.” Rukia responds, humming as she checks herself in the mirror that hangs from the back of my door. “Everyday is a new adventure, a learning—”

“Shut up!” I throw my pillow at her, snickering, “You sound like an afterschool special.”

Rukia snickers as well, turning slightly to look at me. I can see her blurry silhouette in the distance. “I mean… school wasn’t bad… it was actually a lot of fun with you guys there.” I watch her for another moment before I stand.

“I’mma go start breakfast then…” I mumble, getting to my feet slowly. “So we can begin on your new learning adventure.”

“I’ll clean this up while you do that.” Rukia offers, but give me no room to argue, as she’s already started folding up blankets and throwing the pillows back onto my bed. In my half-awake state, I rub my eye once again, waving at her with my free hand and leaving the room.

As I start on breakfast, I rack my brain, trying to think of anything worth note happening today. So far, I couldn’t find anything. I really hated myself at times like this—I couldn’t remember the lesser details, so I would be just as surprised when shit started going down. It was always just my luck that I remembered my future knowledge right at the moment said future knowledge would have been helpful, had I had it before the event occurred. But I guess that’s just how I was.

“Ah, I’ve gotta let Uryū know what happened.” I saw aloud, just so that I don’t forget it. Uryū was the only one of our group who didn’t know anything about what had happened last night and I wasn’t able to text him, since I’d forgotten and then we went to Ichigo’s and… well, a lot happened.

I just hoped Uryū wouldn’t be too upset that we’d left him out. The memory of what I said to him still burns in my mind. “Hoshiko?” Rukia’s call breaks me from my thoughts.

“Err, yeah?”

“You ready to eat? You put everything on the table and you’ve just been standing there.” Rukia looks at me from the kitchen table, concerned. I blink, noting that I’m still standing at the stove, but there is nothing on it.

“Sorry, I sort of spaced.” I tell her, sitting down. The two of us say the prayer and begin eating. “You remember how I said I… the other night, I said some pretty mean things to Uryū and…”

“You’re still worried about it? Apologize to him. I’m sure he’ll understand.” Rukia says, jabbing her slice of toast at me. “He knows you wouldn’t mean it.”

“It’s just the fact that I said it…” I frown, “I mean, I _did_ apologize to him. I was just… so worked up. I always get like that when it comes to Tatsuki. Kīcha said it was something I needed to work on, too. I apologized, I… I just feel like it wasn’t enough. And then we all acted like everything was normal and…”

I knew I couldn’t expect everything to be okay right away or even okay at all, but I just couldn’t leave it alone. Disregarding how I felt, I knew that Uryu was probably really hurt by my words

“Uryū is a complex guy, Hoshiko. He’s not so easy to figure out, but we both know he’s not so soft that he’ll just hold a grudge over some words. Acting like it’s normal might be his way of saying that things _are_ normal.” Rukia points her chopsticks at me, “The fact that he’s even hanging around you all, despite losing his powers, still has to show for _something_. He’s strong, I’m sure that he’ll get over what you said or realize that you didn’t truly mean it if he hasn’t already. Things said in the heat of the moment aren’t always true. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“I guess, but…” Still, I know that I wouldn’t be as easy to forgive if someone had said something like that to me.

“Listen, I don’t know a lot about Uryū, wish I did, but I think if you still feel like this, you should talk to him. Besides, you have to tell him about what happened last night, anyway right? Talk to him then.” Rukia smiles at me, “It’s not as bad as you think, I’m 100% sure of it.”

“Why does it sound like you’re giving me a pep talk on how to confess my love to someone?” I say over my cup of juice.

“I dunno, you tell me.” Rukia grins, “Could it be that… you _like_ Uryū? Ooh, _scandalous_.” She covers her mouth with her hand.

“Shut up and eat your rice! Besides,” I snicker before dramatically throwing my arm over my forehead, “Mine is an unrequited love, Uryū and Kurosaki went to the Soul Society for you, not me.”

“Sorry, but I’m an independent woman, I don’t need no man.” Rukia snaps her fingers before the two of us burst out laughing.

It was really good to have Rukia back.

“Besides, wasn’t Ichigo all snuggled up to you back in the Soul Society, I mean… shouldn’t we be starting to plan _your_ wedding?” Rukia places a hand over her mouth, a look of smug amusement on her face, “I’m sure he’s _dying_ to see you in traditional wear, it’s all the rage these days, or so the Sources Say. _Scandalous_ , what would Urahara say.”

Scratch that, I was going to kill Rukia.

* * *

When Rukia and I arrive at the school, she leaves me for the company of the other girls who greet her as if she’d never left. Honestly, it was still a little weird to me.

“That’s… really weird.” Tatsuki says from beside me. I jump, turning to look at her, arms raised to attack. “Oh, sorry, I thought you and your spiritual sense would’ve known I was there.”

“I-It doesn’t work like that!” I frown, just for something to say. It did work like that, but I didn’t want her to know she was right. “Though I should have known you were there. How… how is everything?”

“Aside from the fact that we woke up on a _mountain_ and had some weird guy with glasses and braids drive us _down_ said mountain… I’m fine. Was that a Spiritual Power Thing?”

“More or less…” I rub the back of my head. “I’m glad you’re safe. That was… scary.”

“What happened?” Tatsuki asks, “Couldn’t have been that bad, seeing as Rukia’s back. And… everybody’s acting like she never left. Definitely raising some warning bells on the Weird-o-meter.”

“Well, it’s—I’ll explain later, I gotta go.” I pat her on the shoulder as I see Uryū down the hall. “Uryū!” I yelp, throwing up my hand.

Uryū pauses at the door as I come barreling towards him, barely managing to skid to a halt in front of him. “Hoshiko-san?” Uryū tilts his head to the side, “Is something… Kuchiki-san is back.” He says as more of a statement than a question. He then looks at me, an eyebrow raised.

“We… we have to talk.”

* * *

“…And that’s what happened last night.” I conclude. The two of us are on the balcony down on the far side of the hallway. I stare out at the kids slowly pouring into the courtyard, the chatter reaching us even on this floor. Their lives seem so peaceful and serene compared to ours—most probably don’t even remember what happened to them the day before.

Uryū leans against the railing backwards, facing the door we’d come out of. He hasn’t said anything since I’d informed him of what happened the night before, but eventually, he sighs, “Thank you for telling me.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s… no problem. I’m just sorry that we didn’t call you at the time.” I reply. “It happened so suddenly.”

“Even if you had called me, I don’t think there would have been anything I’d be able to do.” Uryū confesses quietly, “But the thought of you wanting to keep me informed is more than enough.” Moments later, the bell rings and Uryū pushes off of the railing. “Shall we head to class?”

“Uh, yeah sure.” I follow him back through the door and towards the classroom. There was something that had changed about Uryū. He looked… sadder, I don’t know, maybe it was me. “U-Uryū!” I grabbed his arm. He pauses, turning to look at me.

“Yes, Hoshiko-san?” Always polite, Uryū looks down at me with curiosity.

“Don’t say that there’s nothing you could have done!” I flick his nose, “There’s always something you could have done. You just need to do the things that only Uryū can do. There’s things that only I can do, only Sado can do and only Kurosaki can do, and you too—so don’t sell yourself short, alright?”

Uryū blinks at me before he smiles softly, nodding, “I’m sorry, then.”

“Don’t be, just… help out in the way that Uryū can. At the end of the day… we’re still friends regardless of you having powers or not.” I tell him, nodding. “Now we can go to class.” I walk past Uryū, heading down the hallway towards the classroom.

So, that wasn’t what I initially wanted to say, but I couldn’t sit by and let Uryū berate himself just because he didn’t have his powers. That wasn’t what good friends did.

Entering the classroom, I see that Keigo and the others are talking to Rukia as if she hadn’t been gone from their lives for about two months now. It was odd, seeing her talk to them so casually. She laughed haughtily like she normally would while Keigo looked so completely in love with her.

“Why are y’all even gathered around my desk?” Ichigo shouts, standing abruptly and pinching Keigo’s cheeks. “Go crowd around someone else’s desk! Why does it _always_ have to be mine?”

Before anyone else can reply, our teacher comes in, slamming her gradebook down on the podium. Students immediately begin scrambling towards their seats. After getting settled and doing the morning greeting, Ochi-sensei looks at us, grinning, “Okay, is everybody ready for today’s test?”

“We had a test?” Ichigo whispers over to me. I shrug my shoulders as Rukia looks back at us, wide-eyed and equally as unprepared.

“ _I_ studied.” Sado informs us, somewhat smugly.

“How is _that_ going to help _us_ though?” Ichigo snaps at him, frowning. “When I see those bount guys again, I’m going to maim them.”

“You and me _both_.” I groan, putting my head down on the table.

Despite what I thought, the test wasn’t that hard and classes were rather boring, giving me more time to think—something I just seem to love to do. I couldn’t figure out who we would be facing next, and with our team down one person, there was only so much we could do.

Lunch had us all sitting underneath a large tree in the courtyard. Ichigo leans up against the tree and I sit in front of him while Rukia sits to my left. I wave Tatsuki off as she heads towards the school store. Uryū sits on the other side of the tree, a part of our group but not wanting to actively show it. I guess these things still took time.

 “Ichigo, did you not bring lunch?” Rukia asks as she opens the bento I’d made for her earlier. “Maybe if you were nicer, Hoshiko would have made you one.”

“I had planned on buying bread from the store but they were all out by the time I made it there…” He rolls his eyes, frowning. “It’s whatever, I’m fine. I just spent all my money the other day on feeding you dumbasses.”

“I can give you some of my food if you want, Kurosaki. I don’t mind. We did almost die together, multiple times—and share a bed!” I grip my chopsticks, pulling out a piece of chicken from my bento. “I make a lot anyway, just so I can share if it comes down to it. C’mon, it’s pretty good!”

Ichigo looks from my outstretched hand to the bento and then to me. I motion him to come closer and he relents, sighing loudly. “F-Fine…”

“I thought you said you were fine.” Rukia teases him as he scoots forward, “You’re not going to seriously feed him, are you, Hoshiko?”

“I only have one pair of chopsticks, Rukia.” I roll my eyes. “And they’re for left-handed people.”

“There’s no such thing as left-handed chopsticks,” Sado comments quietly to my right, sitting down next to me. I nudge him, of course there’s no such thing as left-handed chopsticks, but it seemed like Ichigo didn’t know that.

“I-I can feed myself. Give me the chopsticks.” Ichigo grunts, reaching out for them. I pull them just out of his reach, “What gives?”

“Um, no I don’t want you to have my chopsticks cause I know that you’re just gonna take them and eat my whole lunch!” I glare at him, “It always happens.”

“I’ve never done that before! If anything, you eat all _my_ food.” Ichigo protests, “You offered and I’m taking you up on the offer, let me have the chopsticks!”

“No! Jinta does it, Kīcha does it, Yoruichi does it and even Ururu! I can’t trust _anybody_ with my chopsticks. I’ll feed it to you, so shut up and let me do this!”

“I don’t _want_ you to feed me!” Ichigo argues, “As always, it seems like you’re doing a lot, Inoue.”

“Then you don’t wanna eat, it seems like.” I yell back at him. “That’s fine, then! You’re missing out.”

“Guys, people are staring…” Sado mumbles to my right. Even if I was embarrassed—which I wasn’t—and I wanted to stop—which I didn’t—I don’t think I could. Ichigo was getting heated and in turn, that just made me heated.

Plus, it’s always fun arguing with Ichigo.

“Fine then, I just won’t eat.” Ichigo crosses his arms, looking away. “Happy now?”

“Now you’re insulting my cooking?” I loudly ask him, glaring. “After I spent all this time preparing these bento, you don’t wanna eat? Slaving over a hot stove to prepare a decadent lunch for us? You insult me!”

“Maybe I _am_!” Ichigo responds, “If you’d let me feed myself, this wouldn’t be a pro—ack!” Ichigo breaks off as I launch myself at him, chopsticks in hand.

“You’re gonna eat this food and you’re gonna like it!” I declare. “And I’m gonna feed it to you!”

“G-Get off me!” Ichigo grunts, gripping my wrists, “I don’t wanna have to hurt you! I’m not eating and that’s final.”

“I’m going to shove this down your throat if it’s the last thing I do!”

“Guys!” Rukia yelps out, “Enough playing around! Kurodo said he senses something!” I look over to her, where she has Kurodo in her arms, holding him out towards us. In the split second that I take to look over at them, I yelp, Ichigo having flipped us over.

“I’m not hungry.” Ichigo declares, “We have to go any—ack!” Ichigo coughs, chewing slowly on the piece of chicken I had nearly shoved down his throat.

“You’re always hungry. Don’t lie. With as much reiatsu as you burn up, you’re always starving, but never seem to gain any weight.” I inform him, with a roll of my eyes before turning to look at Rukia, who is holding Kurodo. Of course she’d bring that nasty thing to school. “Kurodo, can you lead us to the bount?”

“Yes, of course, _mademoiselle_.” Kurodo responds, “Leave the school’s courtyard and in two hundred feet, turn left.”

“Alright, let’s get go—er, Kurosaki, you have to get off me.” I push him lightly. Ichigo springs off of me and I snicker, rising to my feet. “It’s a shame I didn’t get to finish my lunch.”

“What are you waiting for?” Uryū cuts in, “We have to get moving! How else are we going to catch the Bount?”

“Ah, Uryū.” Ichigo snatches up his bag, “You should… um, stay behind. Don’t… push yourself. Urahara said you shouldn’t strain yourself, just in case your powers come back.”

Uryū holds out a hand, but I don’t have time to say anything as Rukia pulls on my wrist, “M-Make up an excuse if we aren’t back in time, please? Thanks!” Rukia yells back at Uryū. The four of us break off into a run, leaving the school behind. Rukia lets my wrist go in favor of running a little faster and I catch up with Ichigo, who is running just in front of Sado.

“That was kind of…” I trail, frowning, “…”

“I know what you mean, Inoue.” Ichigo responds, following Kurodo’s next order, “But it would be hard for us if he was here and… double the worry.”

“Still,” I frown, “It just feels… fake of us to claim we’re his friends and then leave him behind like that.”

“Ichigo is right in this case, Hoshiko.” Sado speaks up, “Someone would have to guard Uryū… and that would mean we’re down two people… when we find the Bount and capture it, maybe we can have Uryū be present for the questioning.”

“I… I guess…” It still didn’t sit right with me, but I had to push it aside. I knew they were right; as much as I hated to say it, Uryū would really only be in the way. Hopefully he wouldn’t get the bright idea to follow us or something.

“Specifics, Kurodo!” Rukia barks out, “What’s the details of the Bount.”

“I don’t know much… but I know it’s a male Bount.” Kurodo replies, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright…” Rukia says, “You’re still cute either way.”

“This doesn’t seem like the time a Bount would appear, no?” Sado speaks up. I turn to look back at him, he looks deep in thought, “They seem more like night-walkers if you ask me.”

“You’re right,” I agree, “What they do… it would be easily seen in the daytime, plus our encounters with them have always been at night… why is he out in the day? Trying to masquerade that he has a normal life?”

“Either way,” Ichigo says, “Maybe a daytime capture would result in him being much easier to capture—w-watch it!” Ichigo leaps over a screaming body.

“Rukia, with me!” I grab Rukia’s hand, pressing my hand to my right hair pin. Immediately, Hinagiku and Baigon appear, creating a step over the boy while Sado jumps over him as well.

“Why wouldn’t he get out of the way?” Rukia glances back at him, “Surely he would have the self-preservation skills…”

“Four teenagers running down the road would scare anybody, don’t you think?” I respond. “I mean, we’re practically our own race of people.”

“He looked really familiar, though…” Ichigo frowns, shaking his head, “Ririn, Kurodo, how long?”

“Turn left and you’re there!” Ririn answers firmly. We all skid, slowing and turning the corner, rounding into a warehouse backlot. The large garage door is open, though there aren’t but two people in the lot. A man wearing a suit without a jacket stands there, a woman hanging limply in his hands.

“Hey asshole! Let that woman go! And tell us who you are!” Ichigo wastes no time, pulling out his badge, preparing to free himself from his body. “And what the hell do you want?”

“Your questions bore me.” The man says, dropping the body, “I have a question for you: would you help me? I’m interested in how delicious a Shinigami’s soul might taste.” Ichigo wastes no time, pressing his badge against his body and jumping forward, Zangetsu already in his hand.

The man smirks, pulling out a pocket watch, “Fine then, we can battle it out and I’ll just try it out for myself! Zeig Dih Friede!” The chain of the pocket watch elongates, turning into a pointed whip.

“Sado, to the left!” I shout, dodging out of the way. Sado grunts, going the opposite while Rukia does the same. We all manage to dodge out of the way of his whip, though he leaves long gash marks in the ground. The four of us regroup, standing just out of what I think is his range.

“So… is this your power?” Ichigo shouts at him, “It _is_ like a Zanpakutō!”

“Heh, just a start of them, don’t compare me to you Shinigami.” He snaps his fingers, “I think we’re ready to go.”

“Watch out, all of you!” Uryū’s voice carries over to us, “The ground!” The four of us move immediately, jumping back to where Uryū stands at the entrance to the truck yard.

“He laid a trap around you when you thought he was coming after you all…” Uryū informs us, pushing up his glasses. The ground glows a blueish color and snakes begin rising from the ground. I feel Sado tense up behind me and turn to look at him. “I think that everything that whip touches can turn into snakes… what an odd power. Can Shinigami do such a thing?”

“S-Sn…akes?” He wipes his forehead. “I…”

“Sado, you alright?” I ask him, “You look scared.”

“Sado’s afraid of snakes.” Ichigo answers quietly, gripping Zangetsu a little tighter, “He won’t be of much help against this guy.”

“Well,” The snake on the Bount’s shoulder speaks to us. It sounds childish and almost amplified in a way, “It’s not everything that I touch, it’s broader than that—anything that Ryo can imagine will turn to snakes… for example…”

“H-Hoshiko-san!” Kurodo yelps. I look down, eyes wide as Kurodo’s strap has turned into a slimey-looking snake. “Rescue me! I can’t stand snakes either!”

“Ts-Tsubaki!” I yelp, flinging the entirety of Kurodo and his former strap away from me. Tsubaki instantly appears, cutting through the strap.

In an instant, it seems like everything rope-like in the area begins turning into snakes, as do the cracks in the ground. Sado backs up slightly, arm thrown out in front of Uryū, “I-If it comes down to it… I’ll fight too.”

“Don’t push yourself, Sado.” Rukia and I take up defensive positions in front of the two of them, “Rukia, Kurosaki and I can handle the snakes. You and Uryū protect each other… We make up for each other’s weaknesses, right?”

“R-Right…” Sado agrees.

“Good… Move, now!” I call out to them, “Tsubaki!” Tsubaki appears once again, slicing through two of the snakes. They return to their original forms while I hear Ichigo slicing through a couple himself.

“As long as there’s something around, I can create as many snakes as I want! My imagination is limitless!” Ryo loudly booms, “You’ll get tired eventually.”

Tsubaki continues slicing through snakes while Rukia uses Kido blasts and I slam them into the ground with my reiatsu-powered punches. Sado seems to have reluctantly joined the fight while Ichigo takes on the brunt of the snakes. “Wh-Where’s Uryū?” Rukia questions, looking around, “Sado?”

“He was… He’s over there, with the man.” Finishing off the last snake, we manage to hear Ryo’s words towards Uryū.

“To think I’d run into you… this is too perfect.” He grins slightly, “This makes things easier.” He grabs the tail of the snake, which turns into a whip and flings it at Uryū.

“Santen Kesshun!” I skid, sliding in front of Uryū and throwing up my shield as Ichigo stands in front of it, blocking the attack with his sword. “Leave Uryū alone!”

“That’s impossible.” Ryo replied as if it was common knowledge.

“What? Why?” Ichigo demands, “He’s got nothing to do with you!”

“Ah, but he does. He is the most defenseless and weak among you, isn’t he?” Ryo grins lightly, “Taking advantage of another’s weakness is an establish tactic, yes?” He snaps his fingers.

“G-Guh!” Sado drops to his knees, clutching at his neck, “You should be a little quieter when mentioning someone’s fears, you know?”

“S-Sado!” Rukia grabs his necklace, ripping it from his skin. There’s blood on her hand, but she doesn’t even flinch, “You asshole!”

“Tsubaki!” I place my hand on my left hairpin, “Run through him!” Ryo manages to dodge Tsubaki’s attacks by the barest of slivers, in his haste, he picks up the woman who had been lying on the ground and holds her up in front of himself. Tsubaki immediately stops, not wanting to hurt the woman.

“You coward!” I grunt, “Using people as shields, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“This, too, is an established tactic.” Ryo watches us, lowering the woman just a bit. If only there was an opening… Ryo was too far from where we stood, near the entrance to the truck yard, but I…

“No…” I frown, looking down at the ground. I rub my eyes furiously, trying to blink it away. Why did this happen at the most inopportune moments? “Tsubaki, back!” Despite wanting to protest, Tsubaki returns to my hairpin, and I stand up, looking at Ryo through my own eyes.

“Hoshiko, you okay?” Rukia whispers, her eyes not leaving Ryo.

“I’m fine, my eyes got a little blurry.” I lie, “Sado, you alright?”

“I’m… fine.” Sado breathes out, “…What do you want with these souls?”

“I cannot answer that.” Ryo replies, “But I’d like to wonder aloud—Quincy, yes? I wonder how their souls taste—not human, not Shinigami… something more but something less. I’m sure it’s exquisite.”

“Like hell we’d let you find that out!” Ichigo points at him, “Guys!”

“Five to one—even if one of the five isn’t too capable—isn’t that a little cowardly?”

“It’s an established tactic, no?” I copy him, glaring.

“Ah, you’re right. Who am I to judge?” Ryo shrugs, “Very well, I should be more than able to take you all on.”

“Uryū, stick by me!” Ichigo throws a hand up, “We’ll protect you!”

“Well, in that case… I won’t hold back… Friede!” Ryo snaps his fingers, dropping the woman into the grip of a snake, “I guess it’s five to two? But that’s still not fair…”

“You were always two! You and that damn snake!” Rukia points out, “What are you planning on doing with that woman?”

“Don’t worry,” Ryo waves his hand at Rukia, “She’ll be fine, I would never kill her. But depending on what you all do… I could cut her up and let my poison ruin her.”

“So… we can’t move, is that what you’re saying?” Uryū speaks up, “If we move, you’ll hurt her?”

“You’re very smart, I see why they keep you around.” Ryo smirks, “So what do you say?”

We’re all quiet for a minute and at times like this, I wish we had something like telepathy. Rukia clutches her bleeding hand, Sado’s necklace still firm in her grasp as blood drips down the chain. Sado is still kneeling next to her, a hand loose on his throat. Ichigo stands in front of me, shaking with rage and I grunt in exasperation, what could we do?

At this moment, if I call out Tsubaki to get rid of the snakes, Ryo might end up eating the woman’s soul out of spite or something. We were stuck, there was nothing we could do and nowhere we could go.

“Very well…” Uryū stands, walking past us. “In place of her, take me.”

“Uryū, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shout at him.

“Don’t be hasty, Uryū, we can figure something out!” Rukia shouts at him. “We just need a lit—!”

“Don’t be _hasty_?” Uryū turns to her, “You’ve all been hasty today, running off and leaving me behind like that! And now there’s something that _I_ can do, I’m going to do it. Earlier, Kurosaki said that I wasn’t involved—I am involved, I’m a part of this team, but that woman is not. So why shouldn’t I take her place? It’s the most logical way to go about this situation to me.”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a team to me.” Ryo comments, “But very well. I like your style, kid. Now come over here.”

“Let her go first.” Uryū demands. Ryo chuckles, but nonetheless agrees, his snake, with the woman still trapped inside moves towards us while Uryū walks towards him, upon the two switching places, the woman falls to the ground, the snake having broken and a different one coils around Uryū.

“Tch, dammit, what do we do?” Ichigo asks us quietly. Rukia and I trade looks, searching for something in each other, but we come up short. “He might eat Uryū.”

“…if he does, then we wait for that chance and… Hoshiko, get yourself ready.” Rukia speaks quickly, “That shield power… how far from your body can you use it?”

“Where they are is not a problem for me.” I tell her, nodding definitely, “I can reach… what do you have in mind?”

“The _moment_ that bastard moves… throw up your shield in front of Uryū and I’ll handle the rest. Ichigo, Sado be prepared if that fails.” Rukia responds, “Got it? Our goal right now is to get back Uryū unharmed.”

“Right.” The three of us confirm, though my eyes never leave Ryo. There was something here that I was forgetting. Something was supposed to happen.

“You’re all very optimistic.” Ryo speaks, drawing everybody’s attention, “But, see, Friede is a realist. I don’t know where he gets it from.”

The snake surrounding Uryū tightens, rearing up and slamming him down onto the ground. This wasn’t what he was supposed to do! Quickly, I step forward, throwing my hand out, “Hinagi--!”

“Try to attack me and I will do more than just this!” Ryo yells at me, slamming Uryū into the ground again. The pained scream he emits makes me want to look away, but I can’t, “This is your own fault, getting involved in matters that don’t concern you!”

He slams Uryū once more. “Ryo!” Friede calls, “You’re getting out of hand!” A puddle of blood forms on the ground as Ryo has his snake lift Uryū up once more. I can’t see Uryū’s face, but I can see the blood staining his uniform.

“Stop! Please!” Ichigo pleads, “We’ll—We’ll listen to you! Stop hurting him!”

“Your pleading is cute.” Ryo comments, after clearing his throat and seemingly calming down. He fixes himself and begins walking towards Uryū. The four of us tense up, watching him as he drags his hand down Uryū’s face. “Humans are… whimsical beings, you see.”

Ryo darts his tongue out, licking at the blood on his finger. “Hm…” He chuckles,

“What the hell are you planning on doing, you fuck!” I shout at him, “Why are you playing around like this?”

“Hm, a being such as myself… don’t you agree I need some amusement?” Ryo fixes us with a dead stare, “Dinner and a show, if you know what I am referring to. A little taste before dinner is ready is always good for some—Friede!”

Immediately a fireball comes flying at Ryo and he blocks, letting go of Uryū in his stead. “Hoshi—”

“Got it!” I shout, “Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily! _Santen Kesshun_!” My shield immediately raises and protects us from the stray fires that have started. Through the flames and smoke, I see a woman standing on top of the truck, a large rock lava monster-thing standing next to her. She holds Uryū’s limp form in her hands, staring down at us.

“That woman… She has Uryū!” Rukia says through a cough, covering her mouth, “We need to go after her!”

“Kurosaki!” I shout, looking at him, “Let’s go!”

“I’ll go head on, you come after!” Ichigo yells at me. I nod and he jumps up, only to be blocked by the golem monster. I grit my teeth, running and pushing reiatsu into my legs to jump up at the woman, only a blaze of fire knocks me back down into Rukia.

“Goethe!” The woman shouts, “You take care of things here!”

“Understood!” The monster confirms.

Before we can protest, the woman has hopped away in a blaze of flames and I call my shield up again, protecting Rukia, Sado and I from another heavy blaze. The shield cracks beneath the weight and shatters completely. Sado grabs both Rukia and I and moves, dropping us on the ground near the woman as he goes on the offensive with Ichigo.

It’s a near losing battle, as Ryo is defending himself from the flames and Ichigo and Sado are having a hard time fighting the fireballs being thrown at them. The flames are kept at bay by my shield and looking around, I notice that they’re mostly dying out, as the flame monster is no longer around.

It wasn’t odd that the monster probably couldn’t last long without the master being around—there must’ve been a limit to how far it could be away from the master. Either it limited the power or it would cease to exist for too long.

“Kurosaki, Sado, come back!” Rukia shouts, “The flame guy is gone.”

Upon realizing this, the two return to where we are, frowning. “ _Soten Kesshun_.” I hold Rukia’s hands, healing her cuts and she gives Sado his necklace back. Looking at the group of us, we’re all burned slightly, but nobody seems to even be bothered by it, still, I heal them anyway. Everyone needed to be in the best shape if we were to pursue Uryū. “We need to go after Uryū… where did the woman go?”

“She’s not far!” Ririn informs us, “If we go now, we can catch up.”

“Then let’s get a move on!” Ichigo turns, “Someone call the police so this woman can get some help.” I pull out my phone as we move to leave the truck yard, only to be stopped by Ryo.

“Move, asshole!” Ichigo yells, “We don’t have any time to be dealing with your stupid ass.”

“Right now I’m not in the best of moods, so I’ll finish this quickly.” Ryo stares at us plainly, unimpressed.

“Ichigo, we’re running out of time…” Rukia informs him, “Every moment we stay…”

“She gets further away with Uryū, I know.” Ichigo grunts, “We’re going to have to split… I’ll stay and deal with Ryo.”

“Me too.” I nod firmly, “Rukia, you and Sado go while we distract and clear a path. It’s best to split up like that.”

“Haa, long-ranged and short ranged. Good thinking.” Rukia nods, “Alright, I’ll accept this.”

“Now!” Ichigo and I burst forward, rushing at the crowd of snakes. Tsubaki runs through many while I throw punches and Ichigo slashes with Zangetsu. Sado and Rukia run over towards the wall, dealing with a few stray snakes.

“Did they make it?” I ask Ichigo. My vision blurs once more, showing me Sado grabbing Rukia and hopping over the wall as well as close ups of snakes being cut through. I drop to my knees, a massive pain shooting through my head. “Tsu-Tsubaki!”

“Inoue!” Ichigo shouts. I see him from a distance, oddly farther from me, but I also see myself, “Inoue, what the hell? What happened?”

“Tsubaki, back!” I shout, scrubbing at my eyes viciously, only regaining my vision once Tsubaki is in the hairpin. I gasp out, looking back at Ichigo, who stares down at me in concern, “Duck!” I pull Ichigo down, using the moment, to throw myself upward and slam a kick into the snake behind him.

“What the hell happened?” Ichigo asks from the ground, “Why did you just stop like that?”

“I… sorry…” I help him stand, “I…”

“Tch, it’s fine. Luckily I got to you in time, plus you saved me, so we’re even.” Ichigo turns to look at Ryo, “Give up now, we’re just gonna kick your ass eventually.”

“How _touching_.” Ryo chuckles, “Just so you know, your friends won’t catch that woman. As sad as I am to admit that… and you will die here. Splitting up in the face of an enemy like me was a bad idea.” He holds out his hand, Friede’s tail turns into a whip and Ryo begins whirling it around, creating more snakes. “Whereas you all get tired by using your powers, I do not! You’ll tire out soo--!”

“Enough talk!” I shout at him, “Tsubaki! Let’s go! _Koten Zanshun: Hanabi_! Santen Kesshun!” I pull Ichigo back while Tsubaki races towards Ryo. With the shield up, Ichigo and I watch as Ryo tries to attack Tsubaki with his snake whip, but Tsubaki dodges, gaining momentum and flying upwards.

“He missed!” Ichigo snaps his head towards me. I smack him, pointing at Tsubaki.

“Just watch…” Tsubaki continues upwards until he stops. My vision blurs, distorting once more, and I grunt, trying to steady myself against Ichigo. Of course, it just had to happen again.

“Inoue—”

“I’m fine!” I squint, breathing painfully. It’s weird to see what Tsubaki sees, the ground is so far and it makes my body feel weird, not being able to see what’s in front of me. From up here, I can see myself and Ichigo, behind the shield and Ryo with his snake whip, trying to get at Tsubaki.

Through a tinted yellow light, I see Ryo get closer and closer until he covers himself in the snake, almost like armor and deflects the bomb-like attack, knocking Tsubaki backwards and away from himself.

My vision slams back into my body and I nearly topple over, shakily opening my eyes just in time to see Tsubaki bouncing backwards on the ground and ultimately returning to the hairpins in a beam of light. “Well that didn’t work, now what?” I pant, putting down my shield.

“We’ll have to rush him.” Ichigo responds, “You first and then I’ll try to cut him… maybe I can use my bankai.”

“That’s dangerous, Kurosaki.” I warn him, “We can’t rely on something so… well, unreliable.”

“We have to do something!” Ichigo hisses back at me, “You’ve tried every attack you know, didn’t you? Unless you’ve got some secret end all, be all attack that you can use. And you’re getting tired.”

I frown, Ichigo was right, plus I didn’t want to use Tsubaki too much. I didn’t understand why I was suddenly able to see what he could see—though I was lucky that Ichigo didn’t seem to see that my pupils would change every time I used it.

This was still a new, odd power that I hoped would go away soon. We were really out of options, Ichigo couldn’t use his bankai—and even if he could, I didn’t want to risk it in a place like this.

“Hm?” Ryo hums. The two of us look up at him, “Are you giving up so easily? After all of the ta--!”

Gunshots stop Ryo’s taunts right in their tracks and through the midst of yellow light bullets, I can see him wrap himself up in Friede.

“Oi, sis.” I hear Jinta’s lazy drawl, “Need some help?”

“Jinta… Tessai-san! Ururu!” I shout, relief flooding my voice. “And… Shokaku-san… joy.”

“Hey! I’m here to help too! You _could_ sound excited!” Renji snapped back.

“I don’t have the energy for it.” I was starting to get tired, tossing around all this reiatsu and I could see Ichigo wearing as well. The only thing I could heal at this moment was physical injuries, not depleting reiatsu, and with as much as the two of us were throwing around, we would get tired soon enough—our levels were about less than half now.

“Get him good, Ururu!” Jinta and I chorus, watching as Ururu once again takes her stance, firing off bullet after bullet at Ryo. When the smoke clears, Ryo and all of his snakes are gone.

“Hoshiko-san.” Tessai-san approaches me, looking me over, “Are you injured anywhere?”

“Aside from bruising, I don’t think I’m bleeding?” I check myself over, “Oh, I’ve got, like a couple burns and… my uniform! The shirt is basically gone!” I look down at the remnants of my uniform shirt, only parts of the top as well as pieces of the bow and sleeves are still attached, leaving only something like a half-shirt and my stomach exposed.

Immediately I cover myself with my arms, but that hardly does anything. Great, now if everybody didn’t know it before, they certainly knew now that I was a little chubby, “Kurosaki!” I shoot him with a look, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Wh—I was more focused on you _not dying_ than t-t-t- _that_! I di-d-idn’t even n-notice!” Ichigo doesn’t look at me, in fact he has completely turned around, though I can see that his ears are turning red.

“That doesn’t sound like someone who didn’t know! Ugh, what am I gonna do? I can’t walk down the road like this!” Tessai-san thrusts his shirt at my face, instead wearing his apron without the shirt. Honestly, he looks really funny and it takes all I am not to laugh at him as I pull on the shirt. “Okay, I’m dressed, you can turn around now.”

Reluctantly, Ichigo turns around as Renji and the others join us. “Where’s Rukia? And Sado?” Renji asks, looking around, “And the glasses kid.”

“Long story as short as I can make it,” I sigh, hands on my hips, “Uryū got stolen so we split up to try and get him back. Kurosaki and I stayed to cause the distraction while Rukia and Sado went after the woman who snatched Uryū—she looked like a cougar if you ask me.”

“Like… a real cougar?” Renji asks, confused, “Like… she could turn into… a real cougar?”

“A cougar is an older woman who preys on younger men.” Ichigo informs him with a role of his eyes, “Anyway, enough chatting, it’s time to g--!”

“Hello?” I flip open my phone. Immediately I’m greeted with heavy breathing, “Sado?” I motion Ichigo closer and he leans down, pressing his ear close to mine as we listen in

“We… We lost… We lost her.” He manages out, “We chased her all the way towards the border to the next town and, had a fight… she’s gone. Noba lost her trail.”

“Tell them to return to the Urahara shop.” Tessai-san tells us, “It was Kisuke-san’s orders upon us coming to retrieve you.”

“…right…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish this wasn’t happening in, like, 2001 so that they could have iPhones and facetime each other bc that would be Hoshiko’s main mode of communication. And ofc, find my friends/find my iPhone so half this shit would not be happening.
> 
> They’d be like “well where’s ___?”
> 
> And hoshi would be like “WELL LEMME FIND OUT” *pulls out phone* “FOUND EM”
> 
> Fun fact: this chapter was long as fuck. At 19 pages and 7179 words, I think this is a contender for the longest chapter I’ve ever written
> 
> Another fun fact: so much and so little has happened and I officially hate this arc. Damn me for wanting friendship bonding time and an Uryū centered arc.
> 
> Where's my Sado Centered Arc ???? dammit, he has feelings too....
> 
> anyWAy!!
> 
> check me out on:
> 
> hoshikonobleach.tumblr.com where I prolly got some ask memes and I'm always ready to talk shit and also on ko-fi @ http://ko-fi.com/kattekerma if you feel crazy enough to donate (like that one kid, who I will never forget. contact me, i'mma put you in here some how)


	40. The Bount Arc: Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hoshiko has another Heart to Heart & half of this chapter is a joke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOWOOW HAPPY ANNIVERSARY 2 THIS STORY !!!

When we get back to the Urahara shop, Rukia and Sado are already there, surprisingly. Rukia is bandaged up, as is Sado. The two look up in greeting, but aside from this, not much is said. Ichigo and I take seats next to Rukia and Sado while Urahara sits across the table from us with everyone else behind him.

“So,” Urahara begins, “Did we learn anything new?”

The four of us are silent as he speaks, only watching him. He sighs, taking off his hat and running a hand through his hair, “I notice you’re missing one as well. Care to explain that?”

The way he speaks to us is almost scolding in tone, but I can tell he’s trying not to sound like that. He glances over all of us, his gaze falling on me lastly. “Hoshiko?” I grimace, looking around at the others before deciding that we couldn’t sit in silence forever.

“We… We lost Uryu.” I finally say, “We left him at school so that we could avoid him getting hurt, but he showed up anyway and… gave himself to that guy.”

“We were… doing good fighting him, almost had Uryu back too… but then that fire lady showed up again,” Ichigo continues for me, “And after she made a mess of everything, we were gonna go after her straight away but then the snake guy was still there, so we split up. After we had been dealing with him for a while, those guys showed up and he ran.”

I look at Ichigo, he didn’t mention me slipping up and nearly getting bitten by the snakes. I stare at him, but he doesn’t look back, instead keeping eye contact in Urahara’s direction. “Inoue and I stayed back so Sado and Rukia could go after the lady with Noba.”

“And we managed to track her down for a while, we were right on her trail, but…” Rukia rubs the back of her head, “She’s a lot stronger than I thought and we would’ve been wounded much more than this if you hadn’t showed up.”

“She took Uryu with her while she distracted us with her flames.” Sado finishes shortly, “And her trail went cold.”

“We still have to find Uryu.” Ichigo stands up, “C’mon, let’s—”

“And how are you planning on doing that?” Urahara cuts in just as the rest of us move to stand, “We don’t know what the bounts are after—aside from causing trouble—and you don’t know where they are… how are you planning on doing this?”

“I-If we split up…”

“Splitting up got Rukia and Sado hurt!” I cut in, “I know that I was on board with it myself the first time, but we severely underestimated these Bount guys, Kurosaki!”

Was it that we were weak, or were they just a lot stronger than they should have been? I didn’t know, but I had to be cautious. I couldn’t go out there all crazy, the Soul Society told me that. We had gotten stronger during those few weeks of training, during our Soul Society trip and during the recovery period, but it still wouldn’t be enough, not yet.

Yes, the Bounts would serve as training for us when we had to go up against Aizen and his ordeal, but right now, we had to focus on them and if we were to take them on again, I was sure we would lose. We had to play this smart, I didn’t want a repeat of the Soul Society. And while I personally didn’t care about wrecking my body—I mean, I had the obvious scars to prove it—and Urahara could withhold all the healing he wanted, regardless I would still throw myself in the fire for my friends.

“You’re still recovering.” Urahara brings me back to the conversation at hand, “Which means you’re not all at the power level you cou—should be. It’s best for you all to move in a group, as Hoshiko said, look what happened to Sado and Kuchiki, like they said, had I not come to intervene, they seriously would have been injured. While it’s not a problem for you three, since you have a healer, you must look at the bigger picture. Think if it had been Hoshiko there instead. There’s no-one to heal her when she gets injured, is there?”

Ichigo looks down at the ground, grunting, “You must cover _all_ your weaknesses and move together as a cohesive unit, didn’t I tell you that already? These Bount could separate you even more if you were to move in smaller groups and someone could end up getting seriously injured or worse. We don’t know the exact specifics of the Bounts, so moving with caution is best for you all.”

“I understand, I understand.” Ichigo finally sighs, “Hoshiko is all talk, but she can’t even heal herself.”

“You act like that’s something I chose!” I snap at him, slapping his arm, “Like how you chose to neglect telling me I barely had a shirt to hang on to! I was all exposed for the world to see and I was expecting you, my friend, to tell me these things.”

“I said I didn’t notice!” Ichigo counters quickly, “I told you I was more focused on saving your stupid ass than I was on checking you out!”

“So you’re saying that you’ve seen me half-naked so much, that it doesn’t bother you anymore? So _that’s_ the presence I feel by my window!” The gestures Jinta is giving me from behind Urahara tell me that I need to stop. I can already feel the inklings of Urahara’s anger coming out, but I can’t help it. This is the best way I can get back at Ichigo.

“Shut up!” Ichigo retorts hotly, the red stain covering nearly all of his face, “Th-That’s not… that’s not what I meant! I mean it, honest!”

“Sounds like it!”

“B-B-Be serious! Uryu is missing and you’re making bad jokes!” Ichigo scolds me, probably to save himself from Urahara.

“Someone has to lighten the mood.” I sit back down, “Just have a seat, you know I’m only joking around. _Both_ of you.” I pointedly look at Urahara.

Ichigo sighs, trying not to let the aura Urahara is still radiating get to him. But the moment he sits down, a loud sound is heard and the room pauses. “I-Ichi…” Rukia and I trade looks, while everyone stares wide-eyed at Ichigo.

“That wasn’t me!” He blushes hotly, looking down, “I swear, it wasn’t!”

“Bwahaha!” Kon jumps onto the table, “I, the Infamous Kon, King of All Jokes, have pranked the horrid Beast Ichigo! You’re welcome. We got a nice sound, didn’t we?”

It starts with a snicker, but before long, everyone in the room is cracking up. Poor Ichigo, always the butt of someone’s jokes. Ichigo tosses Kon through the screen door, which makes Urahara jump up. Despite the situation, this scene seems entirely too normal.

In the midst, my phone rings and I look at the caller ID.

_King of Cold Shoulders_ flashes across the screen and immediately I pick up. “H-Hello?" 

“ _H-Hoshiko_ …?”

* * *

 

“Uryu!” I slam open the door, practically barrel into the room, “Uryu! Are you in here?”

“Calm down, Hoshiko-san.” Uryu chuckles from the bed. He waves lightly at me and I run to him, practically launching myself onto the bed.

“What the hell?” I nearly scream, “We were worried—what—are you okay? Did she hurt you? What the hell happened?”

“Don’t yell, the nurses might come scold you.” Uryu pats my head, “And I’m fine, I’ve been treated already.”

“Then lemme heal you and we can get outta he—”

“Wait, there’s… there’s something that I want to say to you.” Uryu pushes me away slightly, “It’s part of the reason why I asked you to come alone.” I pull away, sitting on the edge of the bed, “I… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? Sorry about what? If anything, I’m sorry.”

“For being so rash…” Uryu sighs, “If I hadn’t snapped at you like that during that day…”

“That’s in the past, Uryu! I mean, what I said too wasn’t… the best. And I own up to it. I was angry and I said things that I didn’t mean because I wanted to hurt you like I was hurt. Because you didn’t acknowledge my hurt.”

“And that must have… really hurt.” Uryu chuckles, sniffling, “Um, I’m sorry, I’m not very good at these types of things. I’ve never really had friends to get angry at or make up with or do any of the stuff that I’ve done with you guys. And I think that’s all thanks to you… talking to me first.”

“You’re getting all mushy on me, stop it.” I nudge him lightly, “But if we’re having this heart to heart, I’m sorry that we pushed you away today, going on without you even though we said you were apart of our team—like you said earlier.”

“It’s in the past, as you said.” Uryu replies, “I know that you were trying to protect me, so I don’t mind it as much.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re back.” I smile at him, “I don’t know what we would’ve done without your guidance, after all, you’re the smartest in the group.”

“Probably tried to split up to divide and conquer.” Uryu answers, “Which is a bad idea against an unknown enemy.”

I wince, sticking out my tongue, “…Whoops.”

“Kurosaki’s idea?” I nod, “Figures.” Uryu and I stare at each other before laughing, “It’s a wonder we made him our leader.”

“Well, none of us wanted the job, so someone had to take it.”

The two of us sit in silence for a moment before I scan Uryu over. His injuries don’t look too bad, from what I can see, but I would only know once I healed him up.

At least he didn’t seem to be bad mentally. While I couldn’t remember any Bounts with powers like Kurodo, who knew what could be changed with me being here. Uryu seemed to be acting like himself, or at least I hoped I knew him well enough to sya that he was acting like himself.

It was nice to know that I was the first person that came to Uryu’s mind to call when he was brought to the hospital, I vaguely recall it went a little differently during this arc in the anime. It just went to show that my efforts in befriending them on my own terms had a nice pay off. Uryu actually trusted me—and wanted to tell me things, even if we had gotten kind of tense and awkward a couple days ago.

I guess it was the power of perseverance and being a Main Character at play, huh? Well, I hoped it was more perseverance and our genuine feelings on wanting to be friends.

“So… what happened? Do you—”

“Knock-knock, _hello_!” Urahara practically sings. I turn, seeing him and the others standing in the doorway, “Pr-e-tty sneaky of you, Hoshiko-chan, going off like that to visit Uryu and not telling us.”

“Seems like _you_ are the ones who are secretly dating!” Ichigo points an accusatory finger at the two of us.

“Haah, just trying to take the attention off of yourself and Rukia, huh?” I stand up, hands on my hips as I approach him, “Besides, we all know that my preferred type are blondes, no offense to Uryu.”

“None taken.” Uryu says from the bed. “Honestly.”

“Oh, Hoshiko-chan, I knew you liked m— _ow!”_ Urahara clutches his nose.

“I never said _you_ were in that category, though.” I put my foot down, frowning, “Jeez, don’t you get enough abuse from me on the daily that you would have stopped this by now?”

“It’s the only love I will get from my star child…” Urahara groans weakly, sounding slightly nasally. “I must take what I can get.”

“Anyway, enough of the comedy routine,” Ichigo says, smacking Sado’s hand away from Uryu’s blanket, “And enough of that too. He’s not dead, Chad.”

“Sorry to disappoint. And I _do_ have insurance.” Uryu answers the unasked question. Satisfied, Sado nods, “I was just about to explain to Hoshiko what happened. At least now I don’t have to repeat myself.”

“Glad to hear it from the source.” Ichigo sits down on the bed, “We all know Inoue would butcher the story.”

“You’re rude! I would not, I would just… add a bit of flare to it!” I slam my body into Ichigo, “And move over, I wanna sit too.” Sado takes up residence on the other side of the bed while Ichigo and I fight for the spot on Uryu’s left. Finally, I manage to make myself comfortable on the bed and Uryu begins telling us about what happened while he was gone.

Uryu’s tale takes about an hour to finish, as apparently the woman had said a lot to him. After he’s finished, his gaze flits across the room, looking at all of us, in search of something.

“The power to… bend space?” Rukia repeats, almost confused. “I’ve never… heard of something like that.”

“Then that Jin Kariya man…” I put my hand to my chin, “Kīcha, he’s—”

“The same man that the Bount you fought mentioned, yes.” Urahara agrees, “It’s safe to say that he’s the apparent leader. Then that woman is…”

“She’s an outlier.” Rukia answers, “Otherwise, why would she go through all the trouble to tell Uryu all of this?”

“When we were fighting in the truck yard,” Sado speaks up, “The man, Ryo, said ‘you escaped?’ like he was surprised. She was obviously locked up for a reason.”

“Regardless,” Renji said, “Yoruichi-san said she ate a human once before. I know what all of y’all are thinking—she’s still one of them and has to be dealt with, despite her change of heart, which honestly seems fishy.”

“I agree.” Uryu looks down at his blanket, “But I checked myself for any residue—anything that might be a tracer and I found nothing. She merely dropped me off at the hospital with all of this information.”

“It’s almost like she wanted you to tell us all this.” Ichigo says.

“That’s what I was thinking as well.” Uryu nods slightly, “Why else would she do so?”

“Who knows if she’ll actually defeat this Kariya man.” Urahara crosses his arms, “And why a Quincy, I wonder?”

“Well, technically, they _are_ similar…” I begin, “It’s like what you told us, Kīcha, about the Quincy. In the simplest terms, they’re a gateway between a human’s potential and a spiritual being’s potential. They can grow to be more while still retaining human qualities, where as Shinigami are completely spiritual, Quincy have no real place in either world. Too strong to be considered human, too weak—er, different to be considered Shinigami.”

“And following that theory,” Rukia pulls out her sketch pad, “If a Bount, which is basically similar to a parasite, were to eat a Quincy’s soul… they could gain immense power. Which would easily allow them to break through to the Soul Society, and we don’t know what their presence, though fine in the human world, would do to the structure of the Soul Society. Like this, you see?”

The room goes silent, looking at Rukia’s drawings before Renji awkwardly coughs and Uryu sniffles. The silence is slightly awkward, as we wait for someone to speak.

“Rukia’s crap drawings aside, I see your point.” Ichigo blocks Rukia’s attack, “So, I say we have a change in our course of action with this.”

“And what’s that?” Urahara pulls out his fan, waving it.

“Protect Uryu!” Ichigo, Sado, Rukia and I chorus, “It’s only the natural procession.” Rukia nods firmly, “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back… homie.” She winks at him.

“Never use that word again but thank you.” Uryu smiles, “You’re all good friends.”

“But I’m the best, right?” I nudge the air, looking at Uryu.

“This isn’t a competition, Inoue!” Ichigo glares at me, “Besides, I didn’t yell at him like you did, so clearly I’m ahead of you.”

“Wha—But we made up! And what did you do? _‘Uryu don’t push yourself, wah wah wah I don’t like to tell Hoshiko she’s missing a shirt’_.” I stand, making a crab motion.

“I don’t sound like that!” Ichigo snaps. “And I told you I didn’t see it!”

“It’s okay, Uryu,” I hear Sado say, “You can just admit to them that I’m the favorite and we’ll call it a day.”

“As much as I hate to break up the love fest.” Urahara grabs me, practically carrying me like a textbook at his side, “I’m going to have to borrow Hoshiko-chan for a moment. The rest of you can stay up here and begin your protection of the charge known as Ishida Uryu. Tessai-san and I have to get back anyway, to come up with a plan for you all. Since you guys clearly can’t do it.”

“Right!” The group choruses as Urahara carries me out of the room, Tessai-san following after.

Once we’re downstairs in the lobby, I see Jinta and Ururu standing in the lobby. Jinta hands me a bag and I nod, “I’ll go with you the day after tomorrow, hopefully nothing happens. If not, then it’s in the jar under my bed.”

“Right.” Jinta yawns, “Well, are we going?”

“Not yet,” Urahara turns to me, “Hoshiko-chan, was Uryu… off in anyway?”

“I had the same thought process.” I confess, “But, as far as I could tell, he wasn’t. I didn’t get the chance to heal him, so I couldn’t be too sure if he was affected in any other way. Personally, I think he’s fine. The woman Bount’s only power is the fire lava golem, it seems, so there’s no way she would have been able to affect him and judging from how the Bount Ryo reacted, it seems she is operating alone.”

Urahara hums, rubbing his chin before he looks up at me, “As much as I’d like you to use your power on Uryu, I don’t think you should—in this case, we should prolong Uryu’s stay here as much as we can. Everything is well lit and well-guarded. This hospital is pretty high end, you know? So nobody can come in and out as they please. Even less likely somebody who is related to the director.”

“This is true.” I nod, “I’ll keep an eye out and I’ll try to scan Uryu while he’s sleeping, make sure he’s not being affected by anything. I’ll call if anything happens.”

“That’s my girl. Be safe my darling Hoshiko~! If you ever get scared—ooh, so rough!” Urahara dodges my half-hearted hit, “Make sure I’m the first one you call, alright?”

“Yes, _dad_.” I sigh, waving as the four of them leave. I turn, smacking straight into Renji. “You just had to stay in your Shinigami form, huh? What, why did you come down?”

“It’s easier to move around like this.” Renji responds, “…What did Urahara say?”

“Keep an eye on Uryu, the usual.” I shrug, leaving out the part of our suspicions. “Ah, it’ll be a long night…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like we’re gonna be in this arc for a long, long time y’all. I hope you aren’t bored of it. Don’t worry, we’ll have more friendship bonding necessary to plot between more than just Hoshiko and certain characters. >.<


	41. The Bount Arc: Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ENJOY THIS UGLY

The day passes rather uneventfully, and night comes quickly enough, surprisingly, the nurse does not kick us out, instead she explains the amenities of Uryū’s hospital room to us and Uryū. I take the time to excuse myself into the bathroom while she continues to talk to them. When I hear the door close, I open the door to the bathroom, coming out.

“Sounds like we’ve got the whole floor to ourselves, huh?” I tilt my head, “Uryū, why are you so special here? They were calling you ‘Ishida-sama’ this entire time and I’m like _what_? Why do you get the ‘-sama’ bit and we don’t?”

“Be grateful for that, you aren’t a patient. If they’re calling you ‘Hoshiko-sama’, something’s wrong.” Renji scoffs.

“It’s pretty lucky we’re the only ones on this floor too.” Rukia crosses her arms, “It’ll minimalize the amount of people getting hurt, especially if the enemy comes and attacks us.”

“Well, yes…” Uryū pushes up his glasses. “This seems like something _he_ would take into consideration.”

“Who?” Renji asks, “Are you related to this hospital or something? They owe you a debt or something? Uryū… are you apart of the _Yakuza_ or something? I’ve heard that they’re pretty big here.”

“N-Nothing like that. Please, Abarai-san keep your outlandish claims and jokes to yourself.” Uryū pushes up his glasses.

_“A-Abarai-san…”_ Renji repeats, looking defeated.

“My dad is the director of this hospital, that’s all.” Uryū admits, although the way he says it sounds like he forced it out of himself, “He gave me the entire ninth floor because he knew I was involved with something like _this_. I’m surprised he even did this much, after all he said.”

“That explains why you have such a nice house.” Ichigo speaks up, the two actual dead people in the room turn to look at him. “You missed it, Rukia; we walked Uryū home the other night and his house was huge, made mine look like a damn shack. He had a maid too! She was _foreign!”_

“A _maid!”_ Rukia’s eyes widened, “It’s like you’re _royalty!_ Only noble houses have maids back in the Soul Society!”

“Yeah, you have a whole clan of maids, don’t you, Rukia? Even though it’s only you and Byacchi.” I scratch my arm, sitting down on the bed with Uryū.

“Well, it’s Nii-sama, Ginrei-Sofu and I who live there… mostly.” Rukia scratches the back of her head. “But… you’re right, it is kind of a lot of servants for three people.”

“Regardless, Uryū’s freakin’ rich, but he goes to a rinky-dink school like ours. Go figure. Maybe you’re dumb or something.” I shrug, sitting on the bed.

“I score the top grades each testing, so I hardly think that’s true.” Uryū replies, “I chose Karakura simply out of convenience.”

“The top of a bunch of stupid average peasants. Clearly a king among men. Bow to your leader—the leader of Karakura Public High School!” I jump up, throwing my hands up and then gesturing towards Uryū. "All Hail King Ishida!"

“All hail King Ishida.” Rukia and Sado say in the most deadpan voice I’ve ever heard as they too, throw their hands up.

“Anyway, I have some questions.” Ichigo declares, pushing Rukia aside as she praises Uryu. He approaches the bed from the other side and leans over, staring at me, “My main one is: what the hell do you think you’re wearing?”

“What?” I look down at my attire. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Why are you wearing pajamas like we’re here to have a pajama party!” Ichigo points at me, “ _You_ need to be ready to fight, we don’t know when they’re gonna attack us!”

“We’re staying the _night_ , Kurosaki!” I argue, standing up, “Let me at least be comfortable! Jeez, I don’t wanna ruin my uniform _again_! I like my onesie, it’s a giraffe!”

“I like it too.” Rukia comments, wistfully, “Wish I could be comfortable like that…”

“No, don’t encourage her, Rukia. Inoue, change back! If we’re gonna be uncomfortable all night, _you_ have to be uncomfortable too!” Ichigo approaches me, “This isn’t friendship-bonding time anymore, this is Protect Uryū time!”

“Protect him from _what?_ Nothing’s here right now! It’s literally just us, let us breathe, you dictator. We can just hang out! Kīcha gave me his credit card, we can order a whole _bunch_ of pizzas.”

“Pizza!” Rukia echoes, nearly knocking Ichigo over in her attempt to get to me, “Order the meat-lovers pizza, please. Extra meat. And the Moutain’s Dew.”

“It’s just Mountain Dew, but you look like you would want that type of pizza, you nasty.” Ichigo comments. “God, just thinking about that kind of pizza makes me feel like my arteries are clogging as we speak.”

“I’ll take a basket of breadsticks and wings, please.” Sado raises his hand, “Let’s get a bottle of soda as well. Possibly two. Something to drink besides Mountain Dew.”

“Sado, you really know how to take advantage of something, don’t you?” Uryu sighs, shaking his head.

“I deserve it.” He nonchalantly pretends to flip his hair. God, I love Sado so much.

“Damn right, you do. You a king among peasants too. And we’re gonna have to get more soda anyway, Rukia will literally devour a two-liter in two minutes flat. She doesn’t get the concept of drinking from a cup when it’s that big a bottle.” I say, nodding, then turn to look at Renji, “And you, Shokkaku-san?”

“Sh—don’t call me that!” Renji yelps, “I’ll eat whatever.”

“Of course you will. Do you want anything specific, Uryū?” I pull out the menu from my bag, “They’ve got subs and stuff too.”

“I just really want some…” Uryū pauses, “Chicken teriyaki.”

“You’re so Japanese, it hurts me.” I groan, “Kurosaki, what do you want?”

“Can you just get a three-cheese pizza, I mean I can _deal_ with pepperoni, but I don’t really eat por—wait! No, we need to focus on the task at hand!” Ichigo pointed at me, “Trying to rope me in with your wiles and temptations!”

“We can focus after we’ve eaten!” I shout back at him, “Wiles? What are you, fifty? Jesus… anyway, let’s write down our order and then Ichigo can order it.”

“What? Why do I have to order it?”

“It’s basic etiquette. If you’re the leader, then you can lead the charge on food as well.”

Rukia nods. “I know that’s right, homie.” 

“What did we say about you saying homie?” Ichigo frowns, taking the phone from me.

* * *

An hour flies by after we get our food and eat, then another hour flies by. Ichigo and Rukia sit in Uryū’s room, taking the first watch of him while Renji, Sado and I sit outside in the lounge area. It’s pretty quiet, nothing really going on while we sit out there.

Renji stares at his water bottle absently while I finish up the manga Keigo had lent me the other day. Glancing up at Sado, I see him staring at Noba as if the two are having a telepathic conversation, which, at this point, I honestly don’t doubt.

“Ah… I’m gonna go check on everybody else.” I stand from the table. “I’ll be back, don’t do anything I would do.” Leaving the two sitting at the table, I head down the hall towards Uryū’s room, not even bothering to knock and open the door, “Hope you’re all decent!”

Ichigo and Rukia both look up. They’re seated opposite each other, while Uryū seems to be fast asleep. “Oh, Hoshiko.” Rukia greets me, “What’s up? Is it time to switch?”

“No, we’ll let you stew in here a bit longer.” I grin, “So, how’s our beloved Prince Quincy?”

“He’s sleeping.” Ichigo replies, “How is it out there?”

“Pretty boring.” I hold out the manga towards Ichigo, “Reading material.” He takes it, nodding and I pull from my pockets two bottles. “Brought y’all some water too. And you said this onesie was useless.”

“You’re gonna be mad when we get attacked and it gets ruined.” Ichigo warns, flipping through the book.

“I’d rather that than my school uniform again. But I feel like you’re waiting for me to lose my clothes again, you pervert.” I cover myself while Rukia snickers behind her hand. “Nanao-san would like this.”

“Sh—I’m not!” Ichigo stands, blushing angrily as he glares at me, “Is that all you came to do? If so, you can go!”

“So you can have alone time with Rukia? I don’t think so. I’m not ready to let you pluck such a ripe flower, and in front of a sleeping child, no less.” I wag my finger at him. It’s so hard not to tease Ichigo, honestly. He just makes it too fun.

“Uryū is older than you.” Ichigo deadpans, “We’re… _all_ older than you, Ms. December Birthday.”

“That may be!” I shout back, “But… _who_ is awake right now? And who is also unharmed…” The look they both give me makes me falter for a second, “Er… for the most part? Me! Speaking of unharmed… Ayame, Shun’o.”

“Wait, do you think this is a good idea?” Ichigo grabs my hand, pulling it down, “I mean… Uryū refused your healing before, right?”

“Yeah?” I tilt my head, “I don’t see why that ma—oh… right, he’s in the hospital.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t it look weird that he’s all healed up after being admitted earlier today?” Ichigo continues, “Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but he was dropped off here instead of brought back to us. His dad might understand, but it would still look suspicious.”

“I mean…” I just wanted to heal Uryū. This was something I could do, and I also kind of wanted to make up for some of the stuff that’s happened to him.

“We don’t know the extent of his injuries. His head wound, we do know.” Rukia speaks up. “Hoshiko… is it possible for you to heal a certain part of the body without healing the rest.”

“To concentrate on a smaller area?” I reiterate. Rukia nods, “Yeah, of course. If anything, focusing on a smaller area is definitely easier as long as it’s not that bad. Like, when I healed Uryū’s eye back in the Seireitei, that took a good bit of reiatsu because I had to repair the whole eye.”

“Uryū lost his eye?” Rukia questions me, though there’s something strange about her tone, I look at her for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, when we rescued him—Kenpachi and his group and me, that is, he had his eye bandaged. Pretty gruesome, if y’asked me. I didn’t get to see it ‘cause he was bandaged up, but I’m pretty sure it was completely gone. Unohana-taichou was amazed that I was able to do that. Anyway,” I clear my throat, “Healing something like a shallow head wound is easy.”

Ichigo lets go of my hand, sighing and clearly unhappy about this—I had almost forgotten that he was even holding it—and I hold it up again, more concentrated towards Uryū’s head. “Soten Kesshun, I reject.”

Ayame and Shun’o form their barrier around Uryū’s head, quickly healing him, but I stop myself short and they break their barrier. “That should be good enough. The trick is leaving a scar.”

“Your healing doesn’t really leave scars, does it?” Ichigo looks down at his hands.

“Nothing I heal ever leaves a scar.” I boast, grinning, “It’s much, much harder healing someone up to the point that they’ll scar over and it won’t disappear completely. Anyway, that’s what I mainly came in here to do. Give us another hour and Chad and I will come in and switch. Someone’s gotta babysit Shokkaku-san.”

“Alright.” Ichigo says as I leave the room. I hear Rukia asking him about why I’ve been referring to Renji as such and the door shuts as Ichigo makes an ‘I don’t know’ sound to her. I snicker, ah, I love insiders.

Heading back into the lounge area, I see Sado and Renji as well as the Mod Souls all engaged in various games of JanKenPon. Renji yells once more as Sado flicks his forehead. He grips it, angrily shouting.

“Ah! I hate this stupid game!” Renji grunts, “Just tell me how to turn on the moving box!”

“These were our conditions.” Sado speaks up, “You’re not… trying to skip out, are you?”

“Yeah, freeloader!” Kon joins in, “Not trying to skip out, are you?”

It’s funny, watching Sado and Kon taunt Renji, who seems to get increasingly more and more frustrated as time goes on.

“Shut up! Both of you! Argh!” Renji finally snaps, running his hands through his hair, exasperated. He blows out a heavy breath, looking down at the table.

“What’s going on here?” I ask, unable to keep the humor out of my voice.

“Oh, Hoshiko.” Sado greets, “Renji- _san_ wants to know how to turn on the TV so we’re playing JanKen to see if he’ll win.”

“I’m gonna go ahead and guess that he’s not.”

“You would have won a lot of money if we were betting.” Sado nods resolutely at me and I come over, taking my seat.

“So, how were they?” Sado asks me when I’m seated. Kon and the others head off to do something while the three of us stay seated at the table. I grab the remote, flicking on the TV.

“They weren’t doing anything illegal when I came in, but you know.” I shrug, “Rukia’s a Shinigami. And a Lady. A Ladygami, if you will.”

“What’s that mean?” Renji asks, despite himself, I can see he was clearly debating on asking, but curiosity and his stupid loud mouth got the better of him—a trait we begrudgingly share.

“Well…” I tap my chin. I don’t know when the plot is supposed to kick in, so I might as well have some more fun, even though we already had a lot of that earlier, what with all the movie-watching and pizza-eating. “You’re… Rukia’s brother’s lieutenant, right? Or, former lieutenant.”

“I am!” Renji snaps, “I’m still his lieutenant!”

“Okay, okay, sorry.” I hold my hands up in mock surrender, “Surely… when Byacchi found out Rukia was coming he… gave you some ‘special orders’, right?” Renji looks at me blankly, “Okay, okay. Let me make this as transparent as possible. Uh… are you okay? With leaving Rukia in the room with Kurosaki and Uryū like that?”

“What do you mean? They’re just watching Uryū sleep, right?” Renji still seems confused and I sigh, shaking my head. Boy, this kid was just as dense as Ichigo’s reiatsu.

“I mean… they could be in there doing something _illegal_ for minors—and I mean, Rukia’s way older than all of us, she’s got decades, if not _centuries_ on us. She’s like a cougar, as much as I love her.”

I can see the gears turning in Renji’s mind and redness rises up his face and the tips of his ears look hot. He shakes his head so furiously I feel like it’s about to just pop off. I didn’t think he knew what a cougar was, to be honest. “N-No way! You’re being stupid! R-Ru-Rukia is strong enough not to let something like that….”

“You’re only denying it, cause you like her.” I nudge Sado, “Right? I mean, they _do_ have a chemistry that not many others have. And she _did_ give her powers to him.”

“Because she _had_ to!” Renji shakes his head, “She told me why she did it! At that time, there was no other way!”

“Oh yes, but she didn’t have to stay with him, I mean… Sado, back me up here.” I grin at him, while Renji looks to be going through a crisis. Oh, poor Renji, but this is my payback for all that you’ve done to me at school.

“Rukia is but a woman in the face of an attractive and powerful man—one that risked everything to save her.” Sado’s words seem to cut Renji like a knife, “Who knows what might happen. Maybe she’ll ‘thank’ him… in a way only a special friend can.”

Sado and I exchange looks while Renji has his head in his hands, obviously reeling from our words. And this is why I love Sado. The two of us high-five beneath the table, smirking. “And Kurosaki is but a man willing to do anything for Rukia, sure he will want a reward, no? Even someone as prudish as him. Who knows, maybe this is a round two for them.”

“No way!” Renji suddenly stands, startling me and Sado as he glares at the two of us, his face nearly as red as his hair. “Tha-That—That would _never_ happen! I’m serious! Taichou would kill me! No, he would castrate me! And I--!”

Renji is cut off by the loud sounds coming from the room. He cuts his head towards the hallway and immediately leaves the table, with Sado coming right after him and me bringing up the rear. Renji practically bodies the door open, I’m surprised it doesn’t fly off the hinges.

“What’s going on—why is there so much water?”

“Rukia broke the stupid faucet!” I can’t see Ichigo, but I can hear the spite and grunts of effort from his voice. “Now it’s overflowing!”

“ _Me_?” Rukia yelps incredulously, “I had nothing to do with this faucet breaking!” I move quickly, going down the hall and looking into various rooms as I see Sado and Renji enter and Rukia’s voice as well. “Maybe it’s crying because of _your_ stupid face.”

Renji didn’t have anything to worry about—Ichigo and Rukia fought like children who had to share a room for five years—which was kind of true, minus about four years and like 8 months.

Upon entering the third room, I manage to spot a large basin and pick it up dragging it into the room. “Move out of the way!” I yelp, dropping the basin down below the sink, which starts to fill up.

“Oh, good, you found something.” Rukia sighs, her uniform skirt nearly drenched from the effort, “Everyone, let’s gather our things and move. I guess one of us can go downstairs and tell the nurses that the faucet is broken?”

There’s a murmur of agreement and Sado speaks up, “Can’t believe Uryū is still sleeping.”

“This hospital is shitty.” Renji offers up, “I mean, it looks nice but it’s pretty shitty if the faucets break like this.”

“Maybe it’s just for show.” I agree, “Uryū’s dad is cheap, huh? Lavish house, but broken faucets.”

“S-Shut up! The hospital is fine!” Uryū snaps awake, looking at us. “Things break, you know!”

“Just go back to sleep.” Ichigo rolls his eyes, “We’ll handle it. Inoue, open the bathroom door, there should be another basin in there, we’ll have to switch them from time to time.”

“Right.” I approach the door, “Y’know, Ury—woah!” A wave of water practically shoots out of the bathroom door and knocks me into whoever was behind me, I cough up, choking out water and trying to get as much excess off of my face as I can. “What was that!”

“Are you two okay?” Rukia asks, much further than she was before.

“I’m fine… but I feel gross. Ugh, my onesie is all soaked…”

“See,” Ichigo sounds much closer than before. I feel something shift behind me and turn slightly, seeing Ichigo sitting right behind me, “I told you that you shouldn’t have worn that.” I stick my tongue out at him as Renji once again claims that the hospital is less than great, to which Uryū argues.

“Okay! Okay!” I snap, standing up with Ichigo’s help, “Doesn’t matter if the hospital is shitty or not, or whether or not I should’ve put this outfit on! What matters right now is that we get out of this room and call someone like Rukia said. Someone help Uryū and whoever is left, start gathering our stuff.”

“This hospital is still shitty…” Renji mumbles. Sado moves to grab Uryū while I turn my back to try and wring out my onesie a little bit.

“Uryū!” I hear Sado uncharacteristically shout. The group of us, who had dispersed, all whip around to see Uryū scratching at his head, trying and failing to get a large blob of water off of his head. Bubbles of air leave him and he struggles less and less.

Sado tries to pull him out, grabbing at the water, but there’s hardly anything he can do. “Sado, move out the way!” Rukia shouts, she grips her left arm and holds her palm out, chanting before she shouts, “Hadō Number 31, Shakkahō!”

From Rukia’s palm, a bright red light shot, not much bigger than her palm shot out and towards Uryū, cutting straight through the water, just enough that Sado can grab Uryū and pull him off of the bed. On the wall behind the bed, there’s a large burn mark, which has smoke rising from it.

Shit, it was pretty clear we were under attack, but how didn’t we notice anything—better yet, how didn’t _I_ notice anything? Didn’t we have the mod souls with us? And I’ll admit, I didn’t pay much attention to this arc, but still, I should have known the tell signs of when something was going to happen. The hospital should’ve been my biggest clue.

“What the hell was that?” I yell. Sado roughly smacks Uryū on the back, the water coming out of his mouth in large hacking coughs.

“Doesn’t matter, let’s get out of here. We can consider this their attack!” Rukia shouts back, “Dammit, why didn’t those idiots warn us?”

“They’re out playing around in the lounge area.” Renji grunts out, “Everyone, out the room, now!”

With Renji in the lead and Ichigo and I bringing up the rear, we leave the room and hear someone over the loud speaker directing everyone to take the stairs out of the building. Outside in the hallway, it’s oddly dark, which I definitely don’t remember it being when we first entered the room.

“We should probably head outside as well. Hoshiko, you’ll need to heal Uryu as well. It’s for the best now since staying here isn’t much of an option anymore.” Rukia informs me, I nod, feeling something wet against my foot—I just picked the perfect time to get comfortable and not wear shoes, huh?

“It’s leaking out!” I move out the way, “Someone, grab something, we need to cover this!”

Rukia flings a sheet down onto the ground and the two of us begin pressing it up under the doorway in order to stop it. “We should move.” Sado says, “That’s only a temporary hold.”

“You’re right.” I agree, standing up, “Which way to the exit? Kon, Noba! Guys, c’mon! We’re leaving.”

“Let’s just go this way!” Ichigo takes the lead, his body falling behind him. The mod souls make their appearance, and hang onto me, announcing themselves as they do. With everyone all together, we’re ready to go.

“Sado, can you carry that?” Rukia turns to him, “God, he’s so reckless…”

“I’ll say,” I grumble as Sado picks up Ichigo’s body. I wait until he starts running and follow behind, making sure that we’re protected at all sides is our best bet for now.

The hallway, now that it’s dark, seems much, much longer than before. “Kurodo, Noba, Ririn, can you guys sense the bount?”

“I’m not sure. He’s around, but...” Ririn answers, “It’s hard to tell where he is. There’s something about this hospital that has my senses dulled.”

“Tch, I thought you would be more helpful.” Renji rolls his eyes.

“Shut up!” Ririn snaps, “We’re doing the best we can!”

“It’s fine as it is,” I interrupt, “Once we get outside, I’m sure they’ll be able to tell things apart more clearly. Let’s just keep going.”

In the front, Ichigo stops just as what I assume is a water fountain begins spraying water out towards us. In only a matter of seconds, the water makes a dash towards Uryu and Sado, “Not today, Santen Kesshun!” I toss out my hand, blocking the water with a shield that stretches from wall to wall.

Uryu, Rukia, Sado and I stand behind the shield while Ichigo and Renji are in front of it. Renji takes the opportunity to begin slicing at the water, though it hardly does anything. “I…Is it gone?” Rukia breathes out. We all pause for a second, but I’m not ready to lower the shield yet.

A weird quick, sloshing sound goes by and Renji grunts, “We don’t have the time to wait around, so let’s hurry up and get out of here!” From the glowing light of my shield, I see Renji point towards an illuminated sign on the wall, “Quick, let’s get to the next floor!”

The group of us runs down the steps, somehow managing to not trip and end up on the eighth floor, which is still just as dark as the ninth. “Where is everyone?” Uryu asks, “The nurses…”

“I’m sure they’re fine, Uryu, we just have to focus on us for now. We can’t help anybody if we’re in trouble ourselves.”

“Brace yourselves!” Kurodo yells, “It’s coming once again!” From the sink off to the side, a large ball of water pours out, leaving the sink and blocking us in as another one has formed opposite it.

“Shit, there’s two.” Ichigo states, looking between the two. “Who is controlling this? All the others… is this guy even in the building? How far is the range?”

“Your questions are good ones, but we can’t answer them. I’m sure… as we’ve all figured out… this bount’s power is controlling water.” Rukia confirms.

Ichigo grunts, readying his zanpakuto, “Well, then we’re just gonna have to go somewhere without water!” He swings his sword down, immediately turning the water bullets shot at him to steam.

“Sado!” Rukia shouts, “Uryu!” The two of them are completely engulfed in the water and Renji wastes no time in slamming his sword into the blob of water, splitting it apart just enough that Sado and Uryu are free.

“Okay, it looks like we’re able to cut them in half then!” Ichigo says, “Renji, let’s do it!”

“Right!” The two begin hacking and slashing at the water, which lasts for around a few minutes while I’ve tossed up my shield once more around us. I couldn’t box us in like I wanted too—that would deplete my reiatsu much faster plus I didn’t have the skills to hold something like that for too long anyway. This was the best I could do, trying to stay defensive.

“Damn! There’s just no end! We need to make a break for it!”

“A break for it? I’ve got you, now watch it!” Rukia wastes no time in once again summoning her Kidō spell, “Hadō Number 31, Shakkahō!” The red beam of light shoots through the water, turning it into steam. Just as Sado and Uryu are freed, looking more worse for wear than before, the fire alarms begin blaring.

“Tch, let’s get going, we don’t know when they’re ognna be back!” Taking off down the hallway at Ichigo’s lead, we begin trying to find the next exit, and suddenly, the lights turn on once again. Thank god, we probably would have died if we kept stumbling around in the dark.

Now that the lights are on, we see a lot more patients and nurses pouring out of the rooms and into the hallways, heading for the stairs and emergency elevators. “I guess it was off hours for the hospital.” Ichigo comments when we stop in front of a map to see where we can go next.

“It looks like…” I speak up after we’ve surveyed the map for a couple more moments, “All of the water systems are close to the stairs. It’s going to be hard to leave the building without encountering them from here on out.”

“Everyone else seems to be fine, I guess it’s really been confirmed that you’re their target, Uryu.” Renji crosses his arms, “So then we need to find a different way out.” Renji concludes. “You, Hoshiko.” Renji turns to me, “You have shield powers, right?”

“Er, yeah, why?”

“Well, if we were to jump out the window…” Renji says, “You could throw down your shield before we hit the ground, right? And then we’d all be fine!”

“Not… exactly.” Sado speaks up. The hesitance in his voice does wonders for my self-esteem but it’s not baseless. I wouldn’t trust myself with this task either.

“Yeah, I’m sorry to say, that’s _probably_ a terrible idea.” I rub the back of my head. My training was paying off, but still, I did have issues with what I could do.

“Firstly, I have a range of how far I can make the shield from me. The sizing isn’t an issue, but take it from me, landing on that shield is going to hurt. A _lot_ —especially landing so abruptly with the way I’d have to time it. I had a broken arm because of it, so I’m gonna be the first to say that’s not a good idea.”

“Then these box-things! We took them coming up, we can take them down, right?” Rukia says, taping at the directory. “There’s no water by them.”

“Also a bad idea.” Uryu speaks up, “If we get stuck, we don’t know where or who the bount is… they could easily find a way to flood the elevator. We need a place that’s open. The ability to see where everything is coming from is for the best.”

“Okay, open. Regardless,” Ichigo frowns, “We need to take the stairs or find another exit. Uryu, this is your hospital, don’t you know anything about it?” 

“Unfortunately, I don’t try to come here often or at all.” Uryu replies, “You know how I feel about… blood.” Everyone is quiet, thoughtful for a moment before Ichigo grunts. 

“Ah, it’s whatever, let’s just try to find a way out. Maybe if we get down far enough, we can still use Inoue’s shield to help the rest of you get down.”

The rest of us agree, following Ichigo down the hallway.

Everything about this was iffy. In this arc, I didn’t know what would change and what would stay the same, hell, I didn’t even know if we were following canon as of now. Sure, this was anime filler canon, but it was still important regardless, especially now since I was living it.

I really should have paid more attention to what went on in this arc, but things had already changed so much—like me squaring off against a bount on my own—would even having that future knowledge help me out? I’m not sure, but vaguely, I could recall things that happened later on.

More Shinigami would arrive… the bounts would stage a coup against the Soul Society and if we were doing the right things, ultimately, they would be thwarted by us. I just had to hold out hope that we would be able to do that.

The various twists and turns of the floor plan had us hitting dead end on dead end on dead end. Ichigo grunts, slamming his fist against the latest dead end, “What the hell?”

“It feels like the Soul Society all over again, except Sado’s carrying you and _I’m_ running. And y’know, nobody’s about to be executed by an other-worldly governing body.” I comment, looking around. We’d hit so many dead ends, it was starting to feel like we’d been born in this hospital and would die here. Which would suck, because I wanted to meet Kensei and touch his nice abs.

“What’s up with this hospital, Uryu? Why are there all these dumbass dead ends! And all the water systems near the stairs!” Ichigo rears on Uryu, “We need to leave and this hospital is never ending!”

“Why are you asking me? I don’t work here and I definitely don’t live here!” Uryu shakes his head, “Maybe it’s Feng shui or something? My dad likes that type of stuff.”

“Feng shui my left ass cheek, y’all are Quincy, do you really need some stupid Feng Shui?” Ichigo snaps at him.

“C’mon, let’s just try to find another way out. Tsubaki.” I tap my hairpin. Tsubaki appears next to me and while I’m not sure how to do this, it’s our only option. “Go on ahead and see if you can find us a way out.”

Tsubaki looks at me for a moment before grunting and nodding, heading forward. For a moment, we all stand there. With Tsubaki as our scout, we can only do so much. And as much as I didn’t want to admit it to them—or to myself, really—I kind of wanted to test out that ‘new power’ I had.

Now really wasn’t the time to try and figure things out—that should’ve been reserved for training, especially with that odd power, but we didn’t have much of a choice. Clearly just running around without much of a plan wasn’t working. We needed an idea, more of a layout of the land and where exactly the sinks and water areas were.

If there was no way for me to trigger it, then we would be stuck wandering around. There were so many unknowns with this arc and this power, it was really frustrating. I wanted everything to be clear and concise, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

“C’mon… c’mon…” I mumble, “Tsubaki, respond.” After some time of struggling and trying to push my reiatsu around weirdly in my body—since I didn’t know how to actively trigger it, nothing happens for a moment, until it does.

The hallway in front of me shifts, it almost goes unnoticed, except for the fact that it’s moving past me at a high speed. I breathe out, realizing that I’m still grounded in the spot Tsubaki had left me, but also my vision wasn’t. This feels… _weird_ , to say the least. Physically, I know I’m not moving at all, but mentally and visually, I’m down the hall, through Tsubaki’s eyes. It’s putting my stomach through all sorts of flips and turns.

“Hoshiko?” Rukia touches me and I flinch, unprepared to feel her touching me from the left. I stumble, almost falling over if not for either Renji or Ichigo catching me and the slightly panicked sounds that ensued. “Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah…” I say slowly. I’m trying to orient myself, but it’s hard. Tsubaki is so far from me that I can’t even begin to think about using this while moving. It would take some practice to be able to do anything with this. “G-Gimme a sec.”

Even now, I knew how vulnerable I would be if this continued, even from when I used it back in the truck yard unwillingly, there was a delay. This wouldn’t be helpful if I couldn’t also move while using it. This power was very tricky, and would probably be one of my least used when I could get it under control.

I grunt, closing my eyes and bringing my hand sloppily up to my eyes, rubbing them. “Tsubaki, come back…” I weakly mutter. The group is crowded around me, and I frown, burning from embarrassment.

“What was that all about?” Ichigo is the first to speak, I look up, noting that he was the only who caught me when I’d almost fell. “You did that in the truck yard too.”

“S-Sorry…” I frown, turning my gaze to the others. “It’s… um, something like a new power, I guess?” I stand up on my own, looking around, “From what I saw, the path that way is clear up until a set of double doors. After that, I don’t know.”

Most of the group looks unready to drop the topic, but Sado nods. Good ol’ Sado, I can always count on him, “We can talk about this later,” He declares, no room for argument, “For now, we’re going to follow Hoshiko until we’re out of here.”

“Alright.” Ichigo finally relents, “Lead the way then, Inoue.”

 On the way towards the path that Tsubaki had outlined to me, Tsubaki rejoins us, though he doesn’t reenter the hairpins, “There’s something menacing up ahead.” He says by way of caution, “I don’t know what it is, but it can’t be anything but that person you’re looking for.”

 “Then it’s gotta be the Bount. Let’s get going.” I narrow my gaze before taking off, leading the group.

 Going head first into everything was just how we did things, so maybe this wouldn’t backfire on us. But with our track record… I wasn’t holding too much hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowowweewowow guess who turned another year older this past monday, it's ya qurl katte. this is a really long chapter, I want y'all to know. Somewhere up there, I've got so many words on this and we're only on the "hospital arc" of this damn arc. lord, the more i write for it, the more i hate it. BUT IM EXCITED FOR HANATARO. y'know, hoshiko never met hanataro. she don't even know him. she knows kenpachi more than she knows him. that's funny.
> 
> OKAY Next Time:
> 
> “You teenagers are so messy.” Renji cuts in with a roll of his eyes. “Why is she so docile?”


	42. The Bount Arc: Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We run, and then someone gets knocked out.

We run. Something we seem to do a lot more than I want to. Honestly, I really had to thank Kīcha and Yoruichi for all that training they gave me because running was my least favorite thing to do, but now I was begrudgingly good at it. I could easily stay in the lead of everyone and push myself without reiatsu gathered in my legs. I needed to save my reiatsu, after all, I didn’t know whether I would need to fight, defend or heal someone and how grave the injuries I would need to heal were.

While I knew that my reiatsu reservoir was a lot deeper than expected (something Kīcha and the others had been shocked to find out during some of my more in-depth testing), I still knew it was nowhere near Ichigo’s level, nor would it ever be as deep as a Shinigami who was literally a being of spiritual energy. What I had on my side was my innate ability to control, even when I went wild (which I really hadn’t done since my encounter with Mayuri last month), there was still a degree of control that kept me from using up too much, but I already knew I had depleted a good portion just by attempting that technique with Tsubaki. As unreliable as it is, it had been my only option to avoid someone getting hurt. I would need to practice it more, but when? Would we have time between now and when the Arrancar first started appearing for me to train this ability?

The timeline was already skewed some, from what I remember, there hadn’t been much time from when the Original Inoue and Friends had returned from the Soul Society to when they were first under fire of the Arrancar. They had maybe about a week or so of downtime before they were once again attacked. And I needed more than that. We had gotten that in the form of this Bount Invasion, but still.

In my personal opinion, we were somewhat ahead of them—well, aside from Uryū who may or may not be stronger than his original counterpart (because at this point, everyone here had become mine and everyone I was comparing to were their Original Counterparts). I could say for certain that in the time frame of the end of the SōkyokuHill battle with Aizen and the start of the new school semester, Chad, Ichigo and I had grown.

None of us had slacked in that brief reprieve of time, Chad had even mentioned he trained at the Soul Society after recovering. So, as things were, we could manage, but my plans weren’t to be kidnapped. I had to figure a way out of that, hopefully things during this time would go well enough that I could have more of a moment to think about it.

While my thoughts were completely on other things, my body had an autonomy that was strangely mesmerizing. In my mind, all the paths Tsubaki had taken were laid out in front of me, sort of like a 3D map of sorts, I knew each turn and twist like I had done them since the day I was born. This ability was strangely amazing and helpful. Was it borne of my wish to do more? Possibly, but there wasn’t time to dwell on that.

I skid, throwing out my arms to stop everyone in the hallway. It’s dark and there’s noises and grunts of effort, everyone trying to catch their breath minutely. In front of us, two silhouettes of short people stand, outlined by the emergency exit light just behind them.

“This is weird.” I say, looking back at the others. I didn’t do well with ‘scary movie’ type things and it showed in the step back that I took, waving my hand and latching onto the nearest person, who sounded like Renji. “It’s like that movie we watched earlier.”

“Hopefully they don’t start speaking at the same time, and in a backwards demon language.” Kon whispers, “Hold me, Rukia-nee, I’m scared.”

“Hold yourself, stupid.” Rukia harshly whispers before her voice raises, “Who the hell are you guys?”

“ _Haah_ , us?” One of them says, making it known that they’re boys. “I dunno, you tell me?”

“They’re Bounts, but I’m sure you already knew that.” Ririn speaks up, “Do something about them, _Bakasaki_!”

“Shut—what am I supposed to do against _water_? We need a plan!” Ichigo snaps back, “We need to wait for them to bring out the dolls and… then we can… distract?”

“You had a good start, but it’s clear that your follow-through was not there.” I turn to him, patting his shoulder, “Next time, though.”

“Enough chatter, why are you ignoring us? You came to find us.” The other says, his voice only slightly different in pitch. “We’re done waiting around for you to get a clue, Ghoul,”

“Gunter! It’s time to play!” The other one finishes, in the dim light I can see him raise his hand and the rushing of water is the only sound we hear next.

“They’re out like you wanted, what do we do now, genius?” Renji breaks my grip on his arm to brandish his sword in the dim light.

“We run! Go back the way we came!” Ichigo turns, trying to push everyone away, “If we stay, they could flood us like they did the bathroom! Or trap us in a bubble!”

“We can’t keep running!” Rukia yelps, but nonetheless, I hear their retreating footsteps.

“I’ll buy us some time at least, Tsubaki, on my call!” I press my hand to the hairpins. Tsubaki nods next to me and I run back, whirling around on them as the two columns of water rush towards me, “Ready? _Koten Zanshun: Hanabi_!”

Rushing at the two columns of water, Tsubaki become nearly formless until he seemingly crashes into the air, the shockwave from it splitting the air and the water in half and back towards the boys, who fall over from the impact. “Yes! Let’s go!”

Tsubaki joins me as I follow after the others, who aren’t much further down the hall. “Great going, Hoshiko.” Rukia high-fives me, “Let’s see if they’ll get back up after that!”

“They will, don’t worry.” Renji’s voice wobbles as we retrace our steps but turn down a different hall. This one is lit up, luckily and we stop in front of what seems to be the nurse’s station. “We can’t keep running like this, like Rukia said. What are we going to do?”

We’re quiet for a moment, all of us staring at each other and looking around the corridor. There isn’t much here in terms of helping us. “Noba!” Ichigo shouts, “You… you can teleport right? Why don’t you teleport Chad and Uryū outside?”

“That’s a good idea, actually!” Rukia steps in, “Can’t you do that?”

“I can teleport but… in this form…” Noba looks down, and even though he’s a stuffed animal with no mouth or real facial structure, I can tell he’s embarrassed and upset.

“His range is only two meters while stuck in this body.” Kurodo finishes for him. “So, unless the door was about where Hoshiko-san is standing, there is no way we can do that.”

“Damn, I thought that would work, okay, does anybody else have an idea?” Ichigo asks the group of us. We all trade off looks, unsure of what else we could possible do in this situation.

Yeah, we really did suck when it came to actually having a plan. And with Uryū already half out of it, we were really screwed 

“We’re out of time, they’re here.” Sado says, moving towards the back of the group to further protect Uryū. Rukia and Renji take up stances in front of the rest of us while Ichigo and I are the second wave

“Maybe we should—!”

“Ah! I got it!” Ichigo calls out, cutting off Uryū. We all look back at him, as he dives over the counter and behind the nurse’s station.

“Kurosaki, what are you do—put that down!” I shout at him, “You do realize I can do that with my—everybody down!” In the time frame it takes for Ichigo to hop back over the counter, with the two columns of water rushing at us and everybody in slightly different positions, I gather up a speed I never had before and throw up my shield, but it’s different this time.

In the split second it takes me to put the shield up and see everything, I see at least three different shields in place in front of everyone, except me.

There’s a click and suddenly the rushing whoosh of fire and I’m knocked back, slamming against the wall while the windows break, glass raining down outside and inside and Ichigo slams into me, a cracking sound heard against the wall.

It really sucked being the only healer in the party.

* * *

“…ko…!”

“…hiko!!”

“…shiko!”

“ _Hoshiko_!” I snap awake at the call of my name and groan, placing a hand to my throbbing head.

“Wh…What?”

“Ha, she’s awake!” Rukia’s voice sounds teary, “Great going, Ichigo!”

“Shut up!” Ichigo responds, “I already apologized!”

“Yeah but she wasn’t awake then! Are you okay Hoshiko? How many fingers am I holding up? What year is it? Who betrayed the Soul Society?”

“My head hurts and I feel like throwing up and slightly… burnt…” I rub my head, “Uh, you’re holding up two fingers, it’s 2001 and Aizen betrayed the Soul Society…. What happened?”

“Ichigo used a dumb ass trick in order to stop those guys.” Renji cut in, “And during the blast, you slammed into the window and Ichigo flew back and smacked into you. Your nose only stopped bleeding recently.”

“Oh…” I reach up and touch my face, “So das why I sound like that.”

“At least I stopped them!” Ichigo tries to argue.

“Yeah, but you also knocked out our Paladin.” Sado responded, “The only character in our party that has ranged abilities.”

“I’m sorry! It was a bad idea, but c’mon, it worked!” I can see Ichigo’s blush of embarrassment from the tips of his ears and I pat him on the shoulder.

I probably would’ve been angrier if I was actually able to feel more than a numbness and hear more than them talking and the ringing in my ears. Also, my headache. “S’okay, Ichi…,” I say, patting him once again, “I mean, I do same… uh… maybe? No, no, it would’ve been better f’r me.”

“You teenagers are so messy.” Renji cuts in with a roll of his eyes. “Why is she so docile?”

“Probably those pain meds Uryū gave her while she was asleep.” Sado responds. Ah, so that’s why. “She may be awake, but I don’t think she can do much.”

“How long I sleep?” I lull my head to the side, looking at Rukia. “Long?”

“No, just… like, fifteen minutes.” Rukia counts on her fingers. “After you got knocked out, those boys were down for a couple minutes, in that time, we made it to an elevator, but it was already full, so we had to go down another floor. We’re on the sixth floor now. Don’t do that, you might hurt yourself.”

“It’s just up ahead!” Uryū points past Sado.

“Inoue, can you walk?” Ichigo asks me and it’s only now that I realize that I’ve been carried by Ichigo this entire time. Wow, I must really be out of it.

“I… try?” It sounds more like a question than a statement but we’re at the elevator already and Ichigo, with Rukia’s help, is letting me down. I stand there, wobbly for a moment before looking up at Ichigo, “Yes!” I smile at him, “It’s good now.”

“Okay.” Ichigo places his hands on my shoulders, “She might have a slight concussion…” He looks towards Rukia, “So, y’all need to watch her. She can’t sleep until she gets looked at.”

“And what are you gonna do?” Rukia asks Ichigo, “You make it sound like you’re staying behind or something.”

“Well, someone needs to stay with Inoue.” Ichigo tells her, “And it would be better if you and Sado stayed with them while Renji and I tried to put those boys down, or at least make sure they can’t follow us. So, you guys take the elevator down and leave, maybe head to someone’s house or Urahara’s—probably Urahara’s since they can look at Inoue and make sure she’ll be fine and we’ll meet up with you.”

“That’s probably the best plan you’ve had all night,” Rukia sighs, running a hand through her hair, “Okay, we’ll go then… how do I work this?”

Ichigo presses the button beside me and frowns, “Watch her. Inoue, don’t go over there.” Ichigo grabs my hand, pulling me back to where he and Rukia stand.

“Ichi!” I call, “How ya hands warm, but you pretty much died?”

“Wh-What?” Ichigo looks panicked, but I don’t really see the big deal as I press his hand against my forehead, “Inoue—”

“Warm like a… potato?” I tilt my head, “But you dead? Explain.”

“Elevator’s here.” Sado chimes in. “C’mon, Hoshiko, I’ll explain in the elevator.”

“…okay!” Sado uses his elbow to nudge me into the elevator a little and Rukia follows.

“We’ll go first then.” Rukia says with finality. “If it gets too dangerous, just come immediately and we’ll deal with it.”

“Right.” Ichigo nods, “C’mon, Renji.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Renji groans as the elevator doors close.

The doors close with a ding and Sado stops me from pressing all the buttons. “I feel… cramped.” Rukia comments, looking around. “What if they find us in here?”

“Then we die.” Sado responds in his usual voice, which makes me giggle.

“I love your response, Sado.” Rukia rolls her eyes, “Anyway, it’s me and you now. We’ve worked together before, we can do it again.”

“The unlikely team makes an appearance again.”

“If they’re not stupid,” Uryū finally speaks up, “Then they won’t say that we’re in the elevator.”

“But Ichi and Renji are stupid?” I tilt my head, looking back at him, “Dumbest people I know!”

“Unfortunately this might be true.” Uryū sighs, “Okay, we’re on the fourth floor now, let’s think of a plan.” He goes quiet for a few seconds before he snaps his fingers, “When the door opens on the first floor, Rukia-san, you’ll lead with your Shakkaho and Sado will follow up with…”

“Throwing Ichi’s body!” I throw my hands up.

“…I was gonna say, ‘running and tackling the guy’, but… I guess if it comes down to it, you can do that too… I mean, it would certainly surprise someone to have a boy’s body thrown at them.”

“Okay, not exactly a good plan, but a plan nonetheless.” Rukia looks up to the numbers on top of the elevator doors. We’re passing by the second floor now.

Finally, after what feels like forever, we arrive on the first floor. “Get behind me, Hoshiko.” I wobble to stand behind Rukia, crouching slightly as we wait for the doors to open.

When the doors open, Rukia throws up her hand, “Shakka— _oh_ …” She holds a hand up, sticking her head out and looking around. “Seems…. Safe.” She steps out first, looking around even more.

“Mm… okay, I think they managed to keep them upstairs.” Rukia turns back, “Let’s get going.”

“Right!” Uryū and Sado respond. I follow after the three out of the elevator, and towards, the doors, where they’re stopped.

“Whass wrong? Y’all stop?” I frown, “Ichi says we go to Kīcha’s, yeah? So, we go.”

“We can’t, Hoshiko.” Rukia grabs my arm.

“Why?” I question, “We gotta go. So we save Uryū, yeah? Uryū gotta leave.”

“The rain.” Sado simply answers. I look outside and it’s pouring rain.

“Oh,” I finally say, “This is bad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing hoshi all looped out was fun and hard and it came completely just out of nowhere, my notes had her doing something else. ALSO why SO MANY CHARACTERSSSSSSS ugh, that’s why towards the end the mod souls aint say anything, lmao I forgot about them.
> 
> LOOK AT SADO, TALKING A LOT. LOVE HIM. love that boi


	43. The Bount Arc: Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad idea. It whispers to me again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! It's been a while! What's up??? I promise to start updating more regularly, but I've been spending all my time working and cosplaying. One of those has calmed down and that's good! More time for this! 
> 
> In other news, I've grown my collection of Bleach manga volumes in both English AND Japanese!! I could probably post a whole list of what I have (and pictures) on the Tumblr AND on my Ko-fi if y'all wanna see! Exciting.

Rukia kicks the air, grunting angrily before she squats, pressing her hands against her hair and smushing it up. “Dammit!” She yelps, “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“What happened?” Ichigo appears moments later, “Why aren’t you guys, like, miles ahead… Is Inoue--?”

“It’s raining.” Uryu answers for the group of us. “What happened up there?”

“We couldn’t find them.” Ichigo frowns, “They slipped out somehow…” He runs a head through his hair, “Shit…”

“Hey, why it’s raining? Because you a rain man?” I ask him, approaching the two newcomers. I grab Ichigo’s hands, “Make it stop so we don’t die. So Uryu don’t die.”

“Yeah! I agree with Hoshiko-chan!” Kon pipes up, from hiding in Ichigo’s robes, “If you weren’t such a _rain man_ , it wouldn’t have started! You're such a downer, Ichigo!”

“I am _not_ a rain man!” Ichigo pulls Kon out of his robes and throws him on the ground, “Stop making things up, Inoue.” He pulls my cheeks, “God, even though you’re only half aware, you’re still fully annoying.”

“Well, I’m not the rain man, so it has to be somebody esle.” Renji pitches in. “And it’s not Sado, but it could be Uryu.”

“This is serious, stop foolin—” Ichigo and Uryu are cut off by Kon’s loud scream, which just makes the ringing in my ears worse. “What the hell is wrong—oh, fuck.”

In front of us, puddles of rainwater start to rise up and take the shape of something similar to a centipede.

“Ah, brother.” Despite the rain, the voice of this child is really clear, “Don’t you think this is such nice weather?”

“I agree!” The other one says, “It’s perfect conditions… for us to make our move.”

“Look,” Ichigo tries, “You don’t have to do this! What do you want with Uryu anyway?”

“Eh, we’re not really sure.” The one on the left shrugs, “But our boss wants him or something, so… we kinda gotta follow orders.”

“Yeah, better for us to follow the orders than to end up like lightning boy.” The other continued, “We don’t really care for any of you, so it’s not like this will be hard.”

“They’re just going to keep coming after us.” Sado speaks up, “We need a plan.”

“It’d have been better if their stupid powers didn’t deal with water.” Rukia frowns, “You can’t really run away from water.”

“Well we’re gonna have to think of something!” Renji snaps, “Hoshiko probably has a concussion, Uryu is still injured so Sado has to carry him—that means our team is down by half.”

“We can still run.” Sado speaks up. “You can run, right, Hoshiko?”

“Yeah!” I throw my hand up. “I’m not… why’s it spinny?” I brace myself against the nearest thing—which happens to be Ichigo, who grips me to keep me steady on my feet. Now wasn’t the best time to get a dizzy spell, but then again getting smacked into a wall and getting a concussion wasn’t helping anything either.

“Oh my god.” Ichigo grunts, “Chad, you’re gonna have to hold her hand or something. She can’t run by herself.”

“We’re leaving?” I ask, looking from Ichigo to the others. “Since when?”

“Since now.” Rukia answers me, “We’ll handle this. Sado, you take Hoshiko, Uryu and Ichigo’s body and try to get back to the Urahara Shoten, okay? We’ll meet up with you when we finish.”

I look to Sado, who seems rather reluctant to leave the three by themselves, and I don’t blame him. This was basically a suicide mission. “…Fine.” Sado finally says after a couple of seconds, “We don’t have time to argue. Hoshiko, c’mon. We’re going to Urahara’s.”

“Okay! Everybody be go’ now.” I grin at them. Everything was still a little fuzzy and I could still hear a loud ringing in my ears, but if they thought I was okay to run, I wouldn’t argue with them.

“We’ll distract them, and you guys get going as soon as their attention is on us, okay? Chad, I’m counting on you.” Ichigo looks to the taller boy. Sado nods, grabbing my hand.

“Oh, you’re so forward today, Sado.” I giggle, “Someone might get jealous.”

“This is a bad plan, just so you know.” Uryu coughs, looking over them. “I can jus—”

“Nope, best plan we have.” Rukia cuts in, “We’re not giving up and we’re not handing anybody over, so get that thought out your head.”

Uryu quiets down, frowning.

“Are you done over there?” The one twin asks, “We were being nice, but now I’m getting bored of waiting.”

“The rain isn’t getting any lighter, so you might as well come out now, huh?” The other says, raising his hand. “Ghoul, Gunter, get ready!”

The columns of water sprout up from the ground, spinning around each other like some sort of helix before the meld and mesh together, even bigger than before. In all honesty, they kind of looked like a large worm. And it was gross.

“At least it’s only the one?” Rukia tries, nudging Renji, “And there’s three of us… what could go wrong?”

“We would have a much easier time counting what didn’t go wrong by that logic, Rukia-san.” Kurodo says.

“Whatever, let’s just get ready.” Ichigo brandishes his sword in front of him, “On my count.”

Ichigo doesn’t even waste a moment counting and instead charges straight towards the water monster. At that moment, all action seems to come to everyone and Sado pulls me, giving us a wide berth between Ichigo and where he fights the Ghoul-Gunter combination. A weird sound—something akin to a screaming noise—permeates the air, even through the ringing in my ears and at the last second, I hear Rukia shout out the Kidō spell she’d been using all night.

Droplets of water smack against us, but don’t do much damage as we run, nearly slipping on the ground. “Sado, I dun like ‘is!” I tell him, “I dun like this!”

“You have to deal with it, Hoshiko.” He responds, “We can’t stop, not when they’re fighting that thing. We’re almost there.” The gate which fences in the hospital is not that far from where we are, but a cut off scream makes Sado nearly slip and fall onto the ground.

We turn, seeing Ichigo, Rukia and Renji caught in the ball of water, while the two boys laugh at them. “Shit.” Sado skids, nearly dropping Ichigo’s body and letting go of my hand.

“We have to do something!” Uryu yells, “Hoshiko, can you still use your powers?”

I tilt my head. The headache I had came and went and I knew not everything I was thinking was connecting with what I was saying and doing. “I… try.” I say in the simplest way I can. Pressing my hand to my hairpin, I close my eyes.

“She can use her powers still.” I hear Uryu from next to—or behind me. And turn my head slightly, seeing that I had infact summoned Tsubaki. He buzzes, blurring slightly between energy and his corporeal form.

“Tsu…baki?” I question, “You ‘kay?”

“Not… not… really…” He replies, “Did you get hurt?”

“She has a concussion.” Uryu answers for me, “And now I see it affects her powers as well.”

“It.. It shouldn’t…” Tsubaki slowly answers. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Smack him.” I say, pointing at the two boys. “Smack him… in half. Both.”

“No,” Uryu is quick to say, “Um, actually, Tsubaki-san. Can you use that exploding technique you did before? And blow the water away from Ichigo and the others.”

“I’ll… do both.” Tsubaki answers, his form a little stable. “Les go, say the command.”

“Koten… Zanshun: Hanabi!” I throw my arm up, the enthusiasm I feel not at all connecting with the words I’m saying. It seems to be enough for Tsubaki and he flies forward, fast but a little confusing as he dashes, zig-zagging left and right.

In the end, he grazes one of the boys, but is strong enough to blow the water back and allow the others a chance to free themselves.

“Now let’s go!” Sado grabs my hand again and pulls me forward. We run, leaving the hospital behind without a second glance and quickly head down another road.

“Are we going to the Urahara Shop?”

“Not directly.” Sado responds, “I think it’s best we lay low for a few and then make our way over there. We’re going to a factory that I usually train with Yoruichi at first. It’s close by to the border, so we should be fine.”

“I see…” Uryu hums, “Hoshiko, you alright?”

“My ears are loud.” I inform him, “And I’m wet a-and col— _achoo_!”

“Great, now she might be sick.” Tsubaki groans, sitting atop my head. “What do those guys even want with you, Quincy?”

“We aren’t sure.” Uryu answers him, “I’m important to them somehow, but we don’t really know how.”

“Of course, figures.” Tsubaki responds, “That’s so typical of these types.”

“Kurodo, Noba.” Sado calls the two, “Are there any bounts around?”

“I don’t believe so.” Kurodo answers for the two, “But then again, we could be wrong. It’s hard to sense them through all this water—we couldn’t even do it back at the hospital…”

“We’ll just have to keep our eyes out, I can do that much, at least.” Uryu sighs. The group of us is quiet as we run through the rain, only our foot steps echoing against the wet pavement is heard.

For some reason, this reminds me of the night Rukia was taken to the Soul Society. And if we weren’t careful, we could get a similar repeat—this time Uryu would be taken.

The thought scared me, even in my half-conscious haze. What if things turned out differently because of me? In the original, as vaguely as I remembered it—and now my head was starting hurt again. I left that line of thought alone and focused on what was in front of me.

My vision wasn’t cloudy, but my thoughts were a jumbled mess. Everything that happened and was happening all appeared to be confusing and out of order. That is, until Sado tripped, sending Uryu skidding across the pavement, Ichigo’s body slamming into the fence next to us and the both of us to the ground.

It was a bad day to wear that onesie.

“Sado! You guys okay?” Uryu calls, sitting up. Sado groans, trying to push himself up, only to be slammed back onto the ground. I roll out of the way, my instincts taking over despite my mind’s slowness.

Belatedly, my eyes widen and I look at Sado. He’s crushed underneath a brick of water. “Sado!” Uryu and I shout.

“G-Go… without me…” Sado’s voice is loud despite his pauses. He tries and fails again to get up, slapping against the ground.

“Dammit! If you guys…!” Uryu yells from afar.

“Tsuba—”

“That barely worked the first time, you think it’ll work again?” Tsubaki barks at me.

“We… We go’a try!” I slurr, tears blurring my vision. “We go’a try!”

“Very well.” Tsubaki readies himself to attack. The water shoots out at him, slamming Tsubaki against the fence before he can make a move.

“We aren’t falling for the same trick three times, you know.” One of the twins says, “You may have gotten us twice, but we aren’t fools anymore.” Sado slips into the water bubble and I back up, watching him float helplessly.

“Ts-Tsubaki! Back!” I shout. Luckliy, Tsubaki is able to return to the hairpins, but we still have Sado stuck. And Uryu can’t fight.

I don’t trust myself to fight, but what can I even do against water? You can’t really punch it—and I know standing would make me dizzy, even moreso than I am now. 

What could be done?

What?

_What?_

“Dammit!” I yell, pulling my hair wildly. Why was I so useless? My powers really weren’t that strong, were they?

Wait… my powers.

Power _s_. Meaning _more than one._ I had powers—as in multiple.

I look down at my hands. _Bad idea_. My inner voice whispers.

“I don’t gotta choice.” I sniffle, wiping my tears. And I didn’t. They would kill Sado, take Uryu and probably kill me too if I didn’t do something.

_Bad idea._ It whispers to me again.

I had to take the chance. Standing abruptly has the room spinning and I pause. In the distance I hear Uryu shouting and pleading with the two twins. Never have I ever seen or heard Uryu sound so desperate. In front of me, Sado floats, almost unresponsive in the bubble of water that they’ve made.

Everything is blurry and confusing and my head hurts so much and the ringing is so loud—but I ignore it. 

I already told myself I wasn’t gonna play some victim. Even if it meant that I couldn’t speak anymore, I had to do this.

I take my stance slightly wobbly and trying to calm myself of dizziness, eyes narrowed, trying to focus and look at Sado. Poor, helpless Sado who didn’t deserve this. Then I breathe in loudly, gathering up as much air as I can.

And I scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am anticipating the end of this arc, I have SO MUCH planned for the next one, OOOFFFFF and lmk if you guys wanna see more filler arcs and maybe the movies ??? because that would be interesting to write and find a place to fit it in.


	44. The Bount Arc: Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heating Up With Fireworks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t really like this chapter towards the end, so be kind to it

The effects are nearly immediate. My scream is so much louder than I remember it being. And it doesn’t do much to help the state I’m already in. My ears ring—if possible—louder than before. And I don’t feel good at all.

I double over, vomiting almost immediately and sink to my knees. In front of me, Sado gasps, smacking against the ground and coughing, spitting up as much water as he possibly can. Uryu shouts our names in pain and relief—I felt bad, I should’ve warned him before I did it, but then they would’ve been prepared too and I didn’t want that.

The element of surprise was kind of all we had, and even then, we didn’t even really have that.

“H-Ho…shiko…” Sado says once he’s gotten the ability to talk again. “You…”

“S’okay.” I slur, trying to find it in me to stand up. Somewhere, the will comes after I’ve vomited nearly everything I’d eaten tonight and wipe my mouth, slowly making my way over to Sado. He stands, the two of us looking at the twins who are still recovering from my scream. _“We go’a go.”_

“What?” Sado asks me, turning, “Did you say something?” I look at Sado, eyes wide. Did he not hear me? I open my mouth once more to speak, only for nothing to come out. The look on Sado’s face is one of shock, “Don’t tell me you lost your voice.”

If I could tell you that, I would. Instead of answering, I look at him, nodding slightly. Sado winces, frowning.

“Okay, we can figure this out. Hoshiko, can you throw up your shield?” Sado asks. I nod, if I was able to summon Tsubaki, I should have been able to put up my shield. It was just a matter of for how long. I was already dizzy and wobbly on my feet—and to maintain a strong shield, one had to be of sound mind and body, otherwise the shield would easily crack.

At the moment, I was neither of those things, but Sado was counting on me, so I had to at least try. “Put a shield in front of you and Uryu, I’m going to try to attack them.”

As much as this was a bad idea—which seemed to be the running theme of the night—I couldn’t help but agree. We had no other options and no way of calling for backup.

We didn’t even really have the time to wonder what happened to Ichigo and the others. Sado turns away from me, and I try to make my way over to Uryu. I manage to do so, slipping and falling.

“Hoshiko, are you alright?” Uryu is sitting up in front of me, and I nod, pushing myself into a kneeling position.

I slap the ground a couple times, mouthing the words and saying them in my head and my hairpins react, creating the shield in front of me. I could only wonder how long the shield would last—since I wasn’t able to say the command nor was I really in a state to keep it up for long. Uryu and I watch Sado’s effort to attack the water, which actually looks rather dumb.

“Hoshiko,” Uryu pulls himself next to me, I turn, looking at him, “I’ve noticed something… about those two boys.”

I nod, urging him to continue. He gives me a look, but nonetheless goes on, “Do you notice they’re standing rather close to each other?” I turn back, looking at the boys. In the dim streetlights, I can see the two of them. Their movements mimic each other, but no matter where one goes, the other is always a step behind. My eyes widen, turning back to Uryu, I nod repeatedly, widening my eyes.

“I was thinking… maybe they’re the strongest when they’re next to each other.” Uryu continues, “So, keep them apart and…”

“They get weaker.” Tsubaki finishes for Uryu. “Your theory is worth testing.”

“But how are we going to tell Sado?” Uryu asks, “We can’t just shout it out, they probably have a counter for that.”

“Since Hoshiko can’t speak, I’ll have to do it.” Tsubaki replies, “When they come over here, I’ll tell Sado and let him decide what to do.”

Uryu and I nod and watch Sado’s attempts to attack the boys. The water knocks him back towards us and Sado slams into my shield, a loud cracking sound is heard. I wince—whether it’s from Sado, my shield or both is unknown as Sado lays there and doesn’t get up immediately, I drop the shield, crawling towards him.

A raspy sound leaves my throat, but it’s not much more than that. Sado doesn’t move, but eventually, after prodding and poking—from both me and Uryu, he groans, moving.

“Sado, listen carefully.” Uryu speaks, looking at the boys. I try to gauge the distance that we have between us, but it’s hard. My vision is blurry—whether it’s from the rain or the fact that I’m not wearing my contacts, I’m not sure, but it’s making my head hurt even more.

Uryu’s voice is low and I almost don’t catch it entirely, mostly because I’m focused on trying to stay alert. It’s hard, and I need to concentrate on bringing up my shield again, but I can’t do that either. The fairies aren’t responding.

It was odd, to me. Even in my half-state, that I wasn’t strong enough to summon them without a word. Did I truly not trust them and myself? I guess despite all we’ve been through, I was still kind of new to all of this. I’ll be honest, saying the incantations made me feel better, it made me sure of my power. If I spoke it, I could do it. If I said it, it happened. I was Inoue Hoshiko, bearer of the Shun Shun Rikka. But take away my voice and suddenly I was Inoue Hoshiko, the girl who needed to suddenly be protected all the time.

It wasn’t a nice feeling, I’ll say that. “…I’ll try my best.” Sado says, bringing me back to reality. I didn’t have the time to have a pity party. I needed to do what I could, to ensure we didn’t lose Uryu again and to ensure that we even survived this fight.

Sado stands, albeit a little bit wobbly and he nearly stumbles over, managing to catch himself at the last second. “Hoshiko, don’t let them come over here.” With that being said, Sado has a running start, dashing towards them.

Surprisingly nimble for being thrown to the ground so many times, Sado manages to whirl around and dodge the water serpent that they have looming around and heads straight for the boys. They dive apart, one slamming into the fence and the other skidding back as Sado’s punch connects with the concrete.

“Ho!” The boy up against the fence calls. From where Uryu and I sit on the ground, we can see the water serpent wobble, almost unnaturely and the form ultimately breaks down as a scream is heard.

Before long, Sado is running towards us, snatching Uryu and I up and making a run for it. The heavy breathing coming from Sado is the only thing I hear clearly aside from the rain and Sado’s shoes slapping against the ground as he takes different twists and turns, trying to make it as hard as possible for them to find us. 

* * *

 

Sado trips into the door of the warehouse and Uryu and I are flung from his arms, tumbling across the floor to a slow stop. I cough, sitting up a little too fast as Uryu does the same. “Is everyone alright? Er… for the most part?” Uryu asks, looking over us.

Sado closes the door to the warehouse, coming closer to us before sinking to the ground immediately. His eyes are completely covered by his hair and I notice that he has scratches and his clothes are ripped.

Water really does hurt. I hum, though my voice doesn’t allow a sound to come out and hold my hands up, I should have been able to heal Sado, at least, but he stops me, pushing my hands down, “Don’t expend anymore reiatsu than you need to.” Sado tells me, “If it comes down to it, you and Uryu need to run away from here.”

“This place is leaking!” Kurodo yelps, surprisingly me—I had forgotten that the mod souls were with us, but it felt like something was still missing.

“Do you think Ichigo’s body will be okay in the rain like that?” Kon asks, “I mean, y’all just left him there.” Oh, so that was it. Sado and I exchange a glance, but Tsubaki is the one who speaks up.

“His body will be fine. It’s not like it can decompose, but you’d better call that shop owner just in case.” Tsubaki crosses his arms. At that, Sado and I pull out our phones, clicking on buttons repeatedly. Mine is dead—whether it’s from the rain or the fact that it had actually ran out of battery, I’m unsure. Sado sighs, shaking his head.

“If anything, someone will find it. If we survive this, Ichigo will just have to sneak it out of the morgue again.” Sado answers, shrugging.

“Moreover, Hoshiko.” I look to Uryu, “Did you really lose your voice?”

I nod over at him, frowning, “Urahara and his associates managed to seal off that power, but the way it works means that the Kidō spell has to be reapplied every once in a while until she’s able to fully use it without repercussions. She’s been doing training, so she shouldn’t have used it again until they reapplied the seal.”

“So, if I’m following what you’re saying correctly, Hoshiko’s seal had been weakening as of late and her using the scream broke it completely? And now she can’t speak.”

“Exactly. It’s a reckless move.” Tsubaki chides me, “Now isn’t the time to go into specifics about this, just for now. Hoshiko won’t be able to speak until she’s rested for some time and had the seal reapplied. As it is, her reiatsu is being sapped consistently to replace what was lost.”

The group goes quiet upon Tsubaki’s explanation. Uryu clears his throat, “Don’t you think… it would be better… if I just gave myself up to them?”

My head shoots up, staring at Uryu. He doesn’t make eye contact with anyone, instead looking down at his bare feet. “What makes you say that?” Sado asks him.

“We don’t know why they’re after me and you guys are getting needlessly hurt for my sake… is that really what a friend does? Allows the people they care about to get hurt just for their sake? I… I won’t allow it anymore—we don’t even know what happened to Ichigo and the others! This is madness! Sado, you’re barely hanging on—you’ve got so many cuts and bruises from being tossed around… Hoshiko, you can’t even speak and you’ve probably got a concussion that’s only getting worse. And for what? Protecting me because some weirdoes want me? Do they even know that I don’t have my powers anymore?”

Sado doesn’t seem to know what to say, nor do the Mod Souls, so instead, we just sit in silence. “This is stupid…” Uryu looks down at the ground once more, though there is something odd about the way he does it. A strangled noise of shock leaves Kon as Uryu falls over onto him.

Sado and I stand out of alarm, approaching Uryu. I pull him into a sitting position, looking to Sado.

_Ayame! Shun’o! Ayame! Shun’o!_ I chant in my head, hoping that the two will come out. Somehow, they hear me and in dulled sparkles, the two appear, looking over Uryu. “He’s got a fever,” Shun’o says, “Probably from all of this running around you’re all doing in the rain.”

I look to the two of them, nodding my head. “Hold still, U-Uryu-san… we’re going to heal you, or try at least…” Ayame speaks up.

“No! No,” Uryu shouts, “Hoshiko needs to save her energy. Don’t waste it on me. I… I’m just being a burden to you both, don’t worry about me. Like I said, you two should just le—ow! Hoshiko! Why did you hit me?”

“I share those sentiments.” Sado agrees as I lower my hand. I wasn’t going to sit here and let Uryu talk bad about himself and think that we were going to leave him behind just because he said so. “If we didn’t care about you, something like that would be easy to do. You aren’t going to hand yourself over to those guys just because you feel bad or something. That’s stupid. And we all know you’re not stupid.”

I nod, agreeing with Sado’s words. It really sucked not being able to communicate with them at all. Some of my thoughts could be conveyed by the fairies but not many. Everything I was thinking and feeling, they could only put a little bit of it into words, after all, they were their own entities. We weren’t linked so completely.

“There’s a limit to how pathetic I can get… and I won’t stand for this any longer!”

“How sweet,” A voice rings from above us. Sado stands and I pull Uryu closer to me, protective. “Sorry to ruin this pity party.”

“If the Quincy really feels like a burden, he should give himself up for real. And we’ll leave your friends alone… after we’ve killed them. Either way, we’ll get what we want.”

Their voices echo off the walls, so it’s hard to tell exactly where they are. The sloshing sound of water is much closer than I thought, but I grip Uryu—who in turn hugs me back, but the three of us aren’t a match for the water, which throws Sado across the room into a pile of metal rods and Uryu and myself into the far wall. Midair, I manage to switch us and I hit the wall, grunting in pain when my back and head collide with it.

This was probably the most painful fight I’ve been in since Mayuri. At least I didn’t get a concussion from that one. My grip on Uryu slackens just a little bit from the pain. “Get him!” I distantly hear one of them shout.

“H-Hoshiko!” Uryu grabs onto me. Panic settles in and I desperately grab for Uryu but in quick seconds, he’s snatched and lifted into the air.

“Uryu!” I hear Sado yell from the other side of the warehouse. He’s running towards us, his arm already coated in the black symbiote. I stand quickly, with the help of the wall, pressing my hand to my hairpins, but I don’t get much farther than that.

“Cover her mouth!” One of the twins screams, a collum of water slams me against the wall again, pressing my hand down to my side as water slides over my skin, covering my mouth. “We can’t have her screaming again.”

The water doesn’t enter my body, but I know that if I open my mouth, I could die. Instead, I try to steady my breathing, it’s hard, but I’m making good progress. My eyes dart between Sado and Uryu, who is high above our heads, held by the water.

“So,” The two boys make themselves known, standing rather far from Sado, “Who will you save first? Save the Quincy and we could kill the girl;”

“Save the girl and we’ll take the Quincy. Choices, choices.” The other one finishes. “Either way, someone may die here.” Uryu screams just a little louder and I look up at him, the panic I felt before rises. We were really stuck, what could we do?

My eyes go back to Sado, who looks to be thinking everything over. If I had my voice, I’d have told him to go help Uryu first—if I had my voice, I would’ve been able to call the Shun Shun Rikka back out—if I had my voice…

“Sado! Inoue! Uryu!” A new voice joins the fray. Ichigo, Rukia and Renji round the corner, skidding to a stop upon taking in the scene.

“Hoshiko!” Rukia yelps in alarm, turning towards me, she goes to move, but the water keeps them all in place.

“Oh good, you’re all here. That makes it so much easier.” The baseball-cap wearing twin says, “We were just making him choose between saving the girl and saving the Quincy.”

“Dumbass!” Ichigo shouts, “We aren’t going to choose! Stop fucking around and let them both go!”

“Sorry, but that’s not possible.” The one wearing the beanie says, shaking his head. “Quincy  either comes with us, or you all die and we take him.”

“Make your decision quick, before we have to reveal our true nature.” Baseball-cap says, “Ghoul and Gunter aren’t too fond of you guys.”

“He’s right, they want to kill you.” Beanie continues, “So, maybe we should use a little bit of gentle persuasion, right brother?”

“Of course.” The large water monster behind the two shifts slightly, balls of water heading off of and towards the others. The water rises over my nose, effectively cutting off my breathing and open my mouth, trying to gasp for air, but there is none. 

Instead, the water enters my body—just what I had been afraid of. Through water-clogged ears, I hear everyone else’s struggle for breath. The water removes itself from my body, allowing me to drop to the floor.

I’ll be honest, this is much, much scarier than being cut open by Mayuri. Death by drowning—on water inside my own body at that—is probably the scariest thing that I’ve faced so far. I didn’t want to die like this—in some unknown warehouse by drowning. And compared to everything before, this probably had the most real chance of me dying.

The sounds fade out and I feel light-headed. They had probably been letting water into my body without me knowing it this entire time. My eyes feel heavy and there’s a slow panic in my heart. I don’t struggle. I can’t anymore. The water makes my limbs feel heavy. Tears unwillingly leak from my eyes and my fingers looks blue.

I can feel my eyes rolling into the back of my head, my vision is spotty…

And then suddenly it’s over.

My hearing is the first thing to return. “Yes! That’s how you do it!” I hear Ririn shouting.

I cough, still water-logged and unable to fully get the water out, coughing only brings small spurts out as I crawl to my knees. Suddenly, I’m hoisted up and a rather rough Heimlich maneuver is used on me.

Water spews out of my body and straight onto the ground in front of me. I cough, much louder this time and move to speak, though nothing comes out. “You can thank me later.” Renji places a hand on my head, walking past me.

I follow after him, regrouping with everyone else. “Those two were controlling their dolls by sharing their thoughts.” Rukia says as Renji and I approach. Ichigo jumps, slamming Zangetsu straight through the baseball-cap’s water monster and Uryu drops straight into Sado’s arms.

“Uryu figured out that having them close to each other is what made their powers so strong.” Sado says.

“And, when one is far away, or in this case, looses consciousness, they can’t resonate—or share their thoughts, and so their power becomes unstable.” Uryu concludes.

“Give it up!” Ichigo shouts at him, “You’ve lost!”

The baseball-cap twin looks up at us, anger in his eyes, “I… I can do this alone! Just watch me! Ghoul!”

The water monster rises back up, attacking us once again. We all move, dodging out of the way. In his crazed state, this boy is strong, it probably also helps that he’s right next to his brother.

We needed a plan and quick. “Shakkaho!” Rukia shouts, firing off another red flare at the monster.

“You dumb bitch, where are you aiming? You’re all gonna die at this rate!” He shouts, “Ghoul! Finish them off!”

_“It’s here! I know it’s here! Let’s go, Hana!”_

_“Of course!”_

_“Seppa!”_ From the wall closest to Renji and I, sand pours, overflowing into the room and knocking Ghoul down. Baseball-cap screams, just as Renji and I back away from the sand.

“See, I told you!” The dust clears and there in a hole in the wall stands Ganju and… Hanatarō. Was this just the arc of cameos? I didn’t actually meet Hanatarō back in the Soul Society, since I was dealing with other people, I never got the chance to formally meet him.

Ichigo looks surprised, yelping out their names in shock, “Yo! Ichigo and friends, it’s been some time, right?”

“What’re you doing here?” Ichigo asks, to which Ganju just waves it off.

“Ha, nothin’ to it! Anyway, I heard y’all need more firepower, right? As I’m sure you remember, firepower is a Shiba specialty, you know?”

“Fireworks!” Rukia snaps her fingers, “That’s… exactly what we need!”

“Can you do it, Ganju!” Ichigo asks him, “A really big one straight at that thing!” Ichigo points at Ghoul, who has just risen again.

“Yeah, I got it! After all, I wanna eat that lunch I got from the boss!” Ganju takes up a fighting stance.

“Ghoul! What are you doing? Move!” He shouts at the monster, “C’mon!”

“Let’s get going! Ta-Ma- _Ya!”_ Ganju screams, hurling an orange ball at Ghoul. Immediately upon entering the water, it douses itself.

“What the hell, Ganju!” Ichigo nearly yells at him, “It went out! What do we do now?!”

“Calm down, just watch.” Ganju smirks. The firework relights itself, immediately exploding into dozens of colorful fireworks, breaking up all of the water. The sparks fling themselves back at us, though I manage to not get hit by any since Renji and I are a little farther away from everyone else.

From where we all stand, the two brothers are visible. “What’s wrong with them?” Rukia is the first to ask. The twins begin immediately convulsing, baseball-cap drops to his knees, clutching at his chest, and it’s not long before both are piles of dust and clothes.

“Looks like Inoue was right,” Ichigo looks to me, “They do disintegrate when they die.”

“Even though they looked like children, it’s clear they lived past their limits as humans… it seems that… they can’t be saved when they are defeated.” Rukia surmises. “Their dolls must be the key to their living.”

Thinking on that, everyone gets silent. “Uryu, you—Uryu!” The alarm in Sado’s voice makes everyone turn.

“Uryu!” Ichigo repeats upon not seeing him, “Chad, I thought you were holding him!”

“I left him back so that he would not get injured again, since he refused treatment from Hoshiko.” Sado responds, “Nobody saw him?”

“We were all focused on defeating them!” Renji yelped, “When could he have left?”

“Who knows!” Rukia throws her hands up, “Somebody could’ve taken him when we weren’t looking!”

“Let’s go back to the hospital, if anything… he could be there.” Rukia frowns, crossing her arms. “Let’s hope he is.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Happy September!! I'm starting school again, I hate it! :D 
> 
> Anyway, thank you to the person who bought me a Ko-fi!! Y'all I must confess, I was surprised when it happened (this is the second time someone bought me one) and lemme tell ya, I thought I was PAYING someone what they gave me but then I looked closer and I was like !!! SOMEONE IS PAYING ME A DONATION ???? yikes, what did I do to deserve this. Anyway, thanks so much for your reviews and your kindness


	45. The Bount Arc: Chapter 44

Ichigo’s body is right where we had left it in the rain, sprawled out, facedown, in the middle of the dark alleyway, drenched in rainwater and coldness. He’s not at all that happy about it being forgotten in the rain, but nevertheless, he enters it, shivering immediately and sneezing. If this were any other situation, it would have been funny—it still was, but only Rukia and I were giggling (as much as I could without a voice) while Ganju loudly asked about it. Sado took to explaining to him, Hanatarō and Renji about what transpired here in this alley and why his body was just left behind.

“Inoue?” Ichigo grips my shoulder as we walk a little ways ahead of them. I can feel the coldness seeping in despite me being just as wet—if not more, than him. It was a really bad idea to wear this onesie. I didn’t want to admit it to him, but he was right—good thing I couldn’t speak.

I turn, looking at him. “…?”

“You… are you okay?” He asks me. I stare at him for a moment, slowly nodding my head. Why would he be ask— _oh_ … I forgot. Only Sado, Uryu and the mod souls knew that I lost my voice. I look to Sado, who walks ahead, “You haven’t said anything—usually you’d be full of snark. Like, saying something mean to Ganju or, like, something about those twins dying, er, turning to dust? I don’t know what to call that, honestly… Or about leaving my body in the gutter basically. Uryu’s disappearance. There’s a number of things you’d have normally commented on.”

I put my fingers together, frowning. “It’s not that she doesn’t _want_ to,” Sado answers for me, “It’s just that she _can’t_.”

“What do you mean?” Rukia asks, “Did something happen? Are you alright?”

I raise my hands, trying not to get them riled up and nod, though Rukia and Ichigo don’t look so convinced—if anything, the two look more than ready to stab someone, especially Rukia as she approaches my side. Sado relays to them all that happened to us when we separated and at the end of his story, Rukia, Renji and Ichigo frown.

“That explains a lot, actually.” Renji comments, “Finally, we get to have a few moments of peace without her grating voice.” I glare at Renji, elbowing him in the stomach when he gets closer.

“You’re just upset that you can’t come up with as many comebacks as Hoshiko can in the amount of time it takes you to process one directed at you.” Rukia shakes her head, “Anyway, let’s stop dawdling, we have to go to the hospital, Uryu might be there.”

The walk to the hospital is, thankfully, uneventful, and I spend a good portion of it trying to see if I can sense Uryu’s trail, a futile effort because I’m losing Reiatsu so rapidly, it’s hard to even see straight enough to walk. Renji ends up by my side, grounding me to the area with his reiatsu as some sort of cloak while we walk slowly. It seems that only he has really noticed the lacking in my reiatsu, which was always at a healthy amount. 

But, still, with me leaning on Renji for support, I try to continue my efforts on searching for a sign of Uryu. The rainwater has washed it away quite literally. With all of the reiatsu being thrown around by those idiots—and Ichigo, the air was permeated by everything _but_ Uryu’s weak reiatsu.

And now that the rain had stopped, there was a trace of nothing. It sucked, just like tracking in the rain was hard to do because of the change in smells and change in tracks that a person or animal would leave behind, tracking reiatsu in the rain was also hard to do since the signatures could be changed or misplaced and misleading as well.

Everything on this planet has its own reiryoku signature. The trees, the rain, the grass, rocks, ocean and of course, people and animals. The rain had a very powering one, made for washing things away, as Urahara had told me, much like the wind. Both were for ‘beginning anew’.

In the hierarchy of things, it went like this: normal humans had a smaller signature than humans with awakened spiritual awareness or powers like Sado, Uryu and I—and these Bounts too, I guess. And of the three of us, Uryu should have been the strongest, although right now it was a tie between Sado and I. We, of course, had a smaller signature than Shinigami, who were naturally born of Reiryoku.

We manage to sneak into the hospital while Renji made noise on the other side of the main hall and head up to the floor we had originally been on, by the use of the elevator. The room is empty and bare, almost like it had been probably before Uryu had even arrived in it earlier yesterday. Our bags are still haphazardly thrown around on the couches from our neglect to get them. Though oddly enough, the floor isn’t wet anymore.

“…What do we do now?” Rukia asks in the silence, looking around, “We’re… well, simply put, we don’t know where Uryu is. And we don’t really know where the Bounts are either, as the Mod Souls can only track them when they’re nearby.”

“…For now, we should probably just get as dry as we can and then head out to search for Uryu. It’s only been maybe a half hour. If we split up, we should be able to--.” 

I stop him, slapping against his chest and shaking my head. Splitting up was literally the worst thing we could do! It’s pretty much what got us into this mess in the first place. “Relax.” Ichigo places his hand on my head, trying to placate me, “And stop hitting me, I meant we split up in groups. Rukia, you’ll go with me and Sado this time. Ganju and Hanatarō seem like a good group as well, they can take Kurodo if it’s alright.”

“Okay, then what about me and the brat? If they’re taking Kurodo, then are we taking Noba or Ririn?” Renji asks.

“I think it’s best, for now anyway, that you and Inoue go back to the Urahara shop so she can get looked at.” Ichigo declares, his gaze sweeping over the room. “And then afterwards, we can all meet up and keep searching.”

“We don’t have that kind of time, Ichigo.” Rukia cuts in, “We have to get going now, and with more people, we can search more places. We’re all worried about Hoshiko, but we should be more worried about Uryu. Nobody’s after Hoshiko. And I’m sure Hoshiko wants to be here too.”

I nod, agreeing with Rukia. I could wait, after all, it was just a loss of voice, as far as they knew. Of course, Urahara and Tessai-san had told me if I kept using this, I would end up losing my voice for real, but it was fine as is. We had to search for Uryu. If we did and could find him, we could prevent the majority of the nonsense that came with this whole arc, not that I knew what most of that was anymore.

With more prodding from Rukia and eventually Sado, Ichigo gave in, shaking his head. “Fine, we leave in five minutes, everybody better be ready.”

With the bathroom (still surprisingly) flooded, I leave the room with my backpack. I’m not even down the hall when I feel a presence behind me. I turn, ready to throw a punch which is deftly caught by a white-haired man.

Ishida Ryūken stands behind me and he does not look very happy at all. “Inoue Hoshiko, am I correct?” He speaks, his tone not at all pleasant. I can’t do much but nod at him, confirming his question. “This way.”

My hand still caught in his grip, I have no choice but to follow him, after all, my fatigue was catching up with me and the fact that I couldn’t speak, also accosted to the fact that my reiatsu was leaking out like a broken faucet with no enough left for me to do anything with it, I was in no form to truly put up a fight in front of someone who wasn’t really a threat.

He leads me into another room, one that is dry and in good shape. “You won’t be billed for the hospital room.” He says, by way of probably trying to put me at ease. I’m still apprehensive about him, as we’ve only met the one time and I don’t remember good things about him from what I read and watched.

“….” I want to respond, but there’s no physical way to do so. Looking around the room, I see a pen and paper pad, I walk over to it, quickly writing down my words and holding it up. 

_Sorry, I’m unable to speak at the moment. Not to be rude, but what’s this about? Surely you know what’s going on._

“I do.” Ishida-san crosses his arms, “And it’s all because of you all that Uryu is in this mess. He’s untraceable due to the small amount of reiatsu he has left and even then, he’s always been very good at control, something a few of you could learn about." 

I huff. I was _very_ good at control, thank you very much. I jot down another response to tell him just that, but Ishida-san holds up a hand. “I merely brought you here to ask you a question, Inoue-kun.” I tilt my head, curious, “Do you really care for Uryu?”

I nod my head vigorously. If I didn’t, would I truly be out here looking?

“I know what you’re thinking. Something like ‘if I didn’t, would I spend the time to look?’ You’re very heroic, if you didn’t know him as well as you assume you do , I’m sure you would still look.” He chuckles at my shocked face then shakes his head.

“You two are so alike… nevertheless. Don’t you think Uryu made this choice himself? Now, I’m not all aware of what has transpired between you all, seeing as I was not here at that time, but why do you not respect Uryu’s decisions? If you are friends as you truly say, why do you think you know what’s best for him? After all, he ran off, trying to make sure you weren’t hurt…!” Ishida-san stops in his advance towards me, clearing his throat when he feels how I cower in front of him. I feel queasy, as my reiatsu mirrors my apprehension. Losing so much of it, even with Renji helping to replenish it a bit, really did nothing to benefit me.

“Forgive me, you’ve clearly been… _Ahem_ , what I’m saying is: if it were Ury,u or any other person in the world for that matter, you would save them, right? What makes Uryu so different? What makes him special to you? You heroic types just barge in and hurt yourselves just to save the day. What if Uryu is tired of that?” 

What could I possibly say to that? Ishida-san was right. That’s how I felt about Ichigo… and I’m sure that’s how Rukia felt about me—why she couldn’t speak to me at first when we were recovering.

 _Uryu is my friend. Mine. And I don’t like when people mess with what’s mine._ I write out. _My reasons for saving him are selfish like that. I don’t want things to happen to my friends because they are precious to me. I am not as noble as you think, to go save people I do not know. Of course, I’m capable of doing it with the powers that I have. I always put my friends first, because they are important to me._

Ishida-san’s eyes go over my words a couple times before he looks back up at me. “I hope I’m not making the wrong decision.” He says after some time, “I’m entrusting Uryu to you. You better not make me regret this.”

I salute him, trying my best to let him know that he won’t regret his decision. “Very similar indeed.” Ishida-san muses, then pulls something out of his pocket. “You need to take your contacts out; your eyes are very dry.” He hands me a bottle of eye drops, which I accept gratefully. 

I excuse myself as best I can and head into the bathroom. The first thing I take out are my contacts. I couldn’t wear these things for more than a few hours now after the whole Soul Society debacle. I’d had my contacts in for days and slept with them in, which could’ve also attributed to a lot of things.

Since then, the strain of wearing them for more than 6-8 hours was very apparent. My eyes would dry out and I wouldn’t be able to see very clearly. The eye drops helped a lot and I put my glasses on—thick-framed things that covered some of my face. My hair, which had been down during the duration of this mess was now tangled and gross looking, so I settled for a bun. I really needed to start putting my hair up if I was going to be doing all this nonsense.

I could only wonder how Inoue dealt with it. “Hoshiko? You in here? Ichigo’s trying to leave right now.” I open the bathroom door, staring at Rukia. She’s alone in the room, which isn’t much of a surprise. Ishida-san’s talk was weird… now I see where Uryu gets his awkwardness from. 

Still, he really did put things into perspective for me. Maybe Uryu felt like we were all doing this out of obligation—even though we’d said it wasn’t like that. He would see, eventually, the longer we kept at it. But for now, we just had to get him back.

“…I know what I said before,” Rukia began, stepping towards the bathroom door, “But… that was before I felt your reiatsu. It’s… dangerously low. Are you alright?”

I give her a look, trying to convey that I can’t exactly tell her what’s the problem and she sighs, shaking her head, “Right, I don’t know why I asked. The main thing is,” She pauses, “Maybe you and Renji _should_ go to Urahara’s—wait, listen! I know you don’t want to, but I don’t want you to pass out or hurt yourself. It’s really important to me that you’re alright.”

I take in Rukia’s words, nodding slowly. Then I shake my head, hoping she understands. She sighs again, running a hand through her hair, “Well, I thought I’d try. Let’s get going then. The others are waiting in the hall.”

* * *

After the initial shock of me wearing glasses is over, we leave the hospital in a rush. It’s still rather dark out, only some streetlights are still on and we stand beneath one, a rag-tag group of drenched students as Ichigo argues with Ganju about how we should split up. Sado clears his throat, making both of them quiet down and turn to him.

“…Renji will go with Ganju and Hanatarō-san. He will take Kurodo.” Sado says, resolute. “The four of us will go together. Rukia and Renji are able to contact each other, and so if we find one another, we will be able to stay in touch.”

“…Sounds like a plan.” Ichigo looks around, “Anybody disagree?” Everyone is quiet for a moment before activity explodes. Rukia begins asking which direction we should go in while I hand Kurodo over to Renji. Ganju and Hanatarō are talking as well and I feel… sort of left out, in a way.

Not having a voice was hard in these types of situations, and I didn’t bother trying to bring that paper and pen, because I knew eventually it would be dark to see what I’ve written and the paper would be too wet to write on.

“Inoue, we’re going this way.” Ichigo touches my shoulder. I turn, nodding to him and easily keeping the pace they’ve set. It’s slow, almost like we were all taking a walk instead of searching the streets for our friend.

An hour goes by, then two, and then another half hour and Sado and I stare at each other. We’re at the riverbank when Rukia gets a call from Renji—we’d talked to them every hour so far, and nothing had come from our searching.

“Dammit!” Ichigo slammed his fist down onto the grassy bank. “Where could this guy be? We searched everywhere from Old Town to Komatsu!”

“What should we do now?” Sado asks, “The sun will be rising in an hour or so.”

“Hoshiko still needs to be looked at,” Rukia commented, looking over at me. “We all need to rest. We’d do no good to Uryu, finding him in our half states. We haven’t stopped moving at all.”

“I can keep searching.” Ichigo said, “You guys can go rest, I’ll be f— _Chad_!” A loud thump to my left alerts me from my sleepiness. Chad struggles to get up and it’s only now that I realize his injuries are severe. He doesn’t look directly at me, probably feeling guilty about hiding his plight for so long.

Some healer I was, I couldn’t even do anything for him. It hurt, being so useless. Was this the extent of my power? I thought I had gotten stronger, but I guess I was just lying to myself. What a knockdown, especially after all that Soul Society shit. I sink to my knees, pushing him over with effort and he grunts, clutching his chest. His breathing is heavy.

“I’m… sorry…” He says, “I thought… I was fine…”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Ichigo berates him, “Rukia, call Renji and tell him we’re going to Urahara’s!” Rukia nods quickly, “Inoue, help me lift him.” Ichigo and I grunt, lifting Sado only so much. He tries to help, but ends up slipping on the dew, almost sending the three of us sprawling onto the ground.

I wished Urahara was here, he’d be able to help us. Still, I couldn’t rely on Urahara all the time. He’d showed me I could, but I also knew that I couldn’t become too dependent. And I didn’t want to either.

Was I really so powerless? Was this really the extent of what I was capable of? Sado grunted to my left, clearly trying to keep himself standing, but I knew it was hard for him, this truth we had to realize. Ichigo himself seemed fine, Rukia seemed fine. And the two of us…? It seemed like we were dragging behind.

“Looks like you could use some help.” An amused voice said above us. I looked up, standing in the small amount of light pouring in from the sky was Urahara, standing there looking ethereal and completely like the hero he knew he was going to be to us. “What am I going to do with you lot?” 

* * *

 The next hour as the sun rises finds us at the Urahara Shoten, with Tessai-san doting on Sado since I’m unable to heal him. Urahara forcibly feeds me food that’s supposed to be rich in fibers and help me regain my reiatsu back quickly and allow my natural healing processes to be accelerated, but it feels like he just wants to feed me, honestly. I mean, at least the food isn’t bad. Yoruichi sits on my lap as I stroke her fur.

Ichigo stares down at the food Tessai-san has cooked for us, before he looks over at me, then to the others at the table. Renji and Rukia waste no time to eat, though Rukia is more refined about it than Renji is. Ganju and Hanatarō are nowhere to be found, as they didn’t come back to the shop with Renji, who had already been here when we arrived.

“I can’t… believe we couldn’t find him.” Ichigo finally speaks, “We searched all over town—where could he have gone?”

I push Urahara’s hand away for a moment, looking over to Ichigo, “We…. all know he could’ve been anywhere.” My voice is rusty form the disuse and hoarse from all the screaming. There’s awkward pauses in my sentence and barely audible words and sounds. It’s winding me to even say this much. “It’s just like him to disappear.”

“He’s just acting tough—for no reason, I might add.” Ichigo continued, “He didn’t have to leave, he could’ve stayed right where he was and we would’ve been able to better protect him.”

“He shouldn’t have thrown us away like that, I agree.” Rukia comments, “But Uryu, as we’ve learned, doesn’t do things just because. He probably thought this was the best course of action.”

“Regardless,” I cough, still keeping Urahara from feeding me anymore. Yoruichi gets up, stretching and leaving the room, “He’s gonna get smacked on for leaving so abruptly.” 

“I’m sure you all want to go out looking again.” Urahara finally speaks up, putting the spoon back into the bowl, much to my relief, “But I’m sorry, I can’t let you do that. Renji and Rukia are the only ones up to even moving about, and even then, that’s only because they needed to be healed the least. They’re still getting close to the red in terms of reiatsu. You all need rest before you attempt to do anything.”

“We don’t have time--!” Ichigo stands up, only for Urahara to shoot him a look. 

“You’ll make the time.” He says in that tone that means there won’t be an argument. “Rukia, you and Hoshiko can sleep in Ururu and Jinta’s room. The boys can sleep out here. I’ll get the spare futons.” Urahara stands, leaving us in the room with Tessai-san. “Hoshiko-chan, I’ll leave out clothes for you.”

I look over to Sado, whose breathing has finally calmed, and he seems stable enough. Tessai-san wipes his brow, pulling away from Sado and nodding to me. I nod back as he leaves the room.

“You and Ururu are about the same size, Rukia.” I say quietly, standing, “You can borrow something of hers after we bathe.” 

“B-Bathe?” Rukia tilts her head, a blush creeping up on her skin. “A-As in… like _together_?”

I blink, watching her for a moment, “Yes, together. We have to save on water since the boys have to do so as well. It’s all the same, Rukia. Let’s get going.”

* * *

When Rukia and I return from the bath and getting dressed, the boys are all sitting in the living room. Ichigo is staring anywhere but at us while Urahara is going over the books for the shop and Yoruichi is lazing about. Sado is sitting up, feeding himself and Renji is looking down at the table. “What died in here?” I ask, tilting my head. 

“Ichigo’s embarrassed cause we heard you two screaming in the bath.” Sado surprisingly spoke up, “And so is Renji.” Immediately, Rukia seems to spontaneously combust into a raging blush and I laugh. “To be fair, you _were_ being loud.”

“Next time I’ll be quieter about the growing pains of a woman.” I snicker, shaking my head, “So, what’s our game plan?" 

“We don’t really have one, to be honest.” Ichigo finally speaks, and all eyes are on him for the moment. “We just need to find Uryu, whatever it takes.”

Everyone’s quiet as we all agree with Ichigo’s words. Ishida-san’s words ring in my mind. I had decided that telling them about my encounter with the older man wasn’t worth it—after all, it wasn’t like he had given me any indication of what could have happened to Uryu or where he could’ve gone from our short conversation.

It’s not long before we all decide to settle down for the night—er, morning—to sleep. Though when we lay down, I don’t manage to go to sleep readily. Rukia, however, starts snoring immediately upon her head hitting the pillow. I sit up, looking around the room. Jinta and Ururu aren’t around, as it’s Sunday and this is generally the day they go out and play for most of it.

As quietly as I can, I get up and leave Rukia alone in the room. Heading outside, I’m kind of surprised to see Renji out there. He sits on the back stoop, staring out into the distance. He glances over at me, but doesn’t say anything and we stand there in silence for a moment. “Thank you… um, for earlier.” I say, wanting to fill the air with something.

I’d never been alone with Renji like this—and we weren’t that well-acquainted aside from having dinner the couple of times and when he came to bother us at school. Renji scoffs, shaking his head. “That wasn’t anything to thank me for.” His voice is quieter than I thought it would be. “That Urahara would end me if anything happened to his ‘precious Hoshiko-chan’ and we both know that.”

“Still,” I tell him, “You didn’t have to do that. My question, though, how _did_ you do that?”

“We’re similar types, you and I.” Renji says, cryptic. Of course he wouldn’t explain things properly to me. “Before you ask, I couldn’t have done the same with Uryu. He’s a Quincy, it’s almost completely different how their systems of reiatsu work.”

I hum, nodding. I didn’t think about that. Uryu had no ability to purify and rebirth hollow, that was something exclusive to Shinigami—and I guess myself and Sado as well. Urahara had never told me anything otherwise, “…Has the Soul Society contacted you again?”

“I caught word from Ikkaku that someone from his division has left.” Renji replies, “Which is a pretty big deal. They think his whereabouts are somewhere within the human world now. Whether it’s related to this is unknown. But nothing on the Bounts.”

To me, I wasn’t sure if this was worrying or normal. My main concern was Uryu. Right now, we didn’t know where he was or what he was doing, but I had an inkling that he was somewhat okay. If anything, that woman he’d met before might have found him, which meant he was out of harm’s way… for the most part. Still, they wanted Uryu for some reason. And we couldn’t be sure what they would do with Uryu—and then what about when they found out that he didn’t have his powers anymore? Would they kill him on the spot?

There were so many things that could happen to Uryu now that he wasn't with us. And the fact that his father had entrusted him to us? It was all a lot of pressure to deal with. The thing that bothered me most is that this was a race against time--how much time? That's the part that we didn't know. We still had Aizen looming over our shoulders, we needed to get everyone together in order to start planning. 

Of course, things may be different now that it's me--Aizen's assault began pretty soon after the Original Squad had come back from the Soul Society, but we had this whole thing with the Bounts going on. Who knew if Aizen was watching us right now? Plotting and planning to take me--or even someone else for that matter--back to Hueco Mundo. We couldn't afford to take breaks.

“Calm down,” Renji pats me on the head. Had I zoned out so much that he’d managed to stand up and come over to me in that amount of time? “As far as they know, Uryu still has his powers—and if he plays his cards right, which I know that he can, the cheeky bastard—he’ll be able to live long enough to escape, or at the very least, send us a message. Uryu wouldn’t go dyin’ on anybody. Everything's gonna work out just fine.”

“I didn’t know you were so smart and compassionate, Former Lieutenant. It’s a shame Byacchi doesn’t want you anymore.” I pat Renji on the arm. He sputters, trying to come up with a response, but I turn, heading back into the shop. "I'll see you later, then."

I just had to have faith in Uryu, after all, he did survive basically the same life-threatening situation I did. We were strong, and we just had to believe in each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's been how long? A while!! I'm back in school and dying! The blog's more active than ever!! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of nothing. A little lull in the action, next time we'll be back with more action, I promise. 
> 
> 2 Dads in 1 Chapter? Crazy

**Author's Note:**

> At certain times in my life, I just get really into SI's and OC-insert stories and after years of reading them, I've decided to write my own. Hopefully it lives up to the hype I've been giving it in my mind.


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